


You Should Die Instead

by MissPerla09



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Adopted Siblings, F/M, Gen, Idol Life, OOC for a few characters, Thriller, Tragedy, curse, family conflicts, saotome academy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-01-30 08:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 72,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12649440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissPerla09/pseuds/MissPerla09
Summary: One of the popular rumours in Saotome Academy apart from the fact that it is a school for idols and composers; it grants you any kind of wish, no matter how evil can it be. As long as it comes from your heart, your wish will come true.Tokiya had always loathed his adopted brother, Otoya. He thought that nothing was fair when the so-called cause of his mother's death was still around and lived his life. Yet, when Tokiya finally reached his last straw and blurted out 'you should die instead!' to Otoya, the nightmare began... just like that.





	1. Chapter 1

**CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA (including the cover), Silvermoon249 (for Koizakura lyrics) and lyrics.snakeroot (for Transform lyric)**

 

 

 **Everybody** knows that Saotome Academy is a performance art school which has produced many top-notch celebrities. Even the homeroom teachers, including Hyuga Ryuya and Tsukimiya Ringo are also the idols with highest quality.    

Apart from those famous facts, the students who are in idol course also have to win the first place for their graduation audition. They have to be the last one standing and every single soul in the school knows just what does it mean when you become a winner.  

 And just like previous years, the night of graduation audition was held so glorious with its’ huge audience size and the best performances from the students.

_“Horeta omae ni otoko michi..”_

As Hijirikawa Masato ended his Koizakura singing with his baritone but sweet voice, cheers were emitted everywhere. He could not see the faces of those who called out his name excitedly but for sure, he was satisfied with his performance just now. Thanks to his partner a.k.a the composer who wrote such a classic but showing-his-latent-singing-ability-kind of song.    

After politely greeting the audiences, the blue head did not waste any more time to storm to the backstage. The next person who would perform after him was the only one he could think right now. He needed to show his support to the person. He needed to convince that friend of him that he could sing tonight.

“Hijirikawa-san, congratulations on..” the idol who always put on a collected mask seemed no longer in that state anymore. Instead, his usually passive body dashed towards a certain direction, completely ignored a passer-by who wanted to exclaim just how marvellous his performance was.

“Wow! He should be an athlete if he can run that fast..” the stated passer-by commented, receiving a strong nod from his friend.

Meanwhile, that Hijirikawa Masato who unintentionally drew people’s attention due to his dramatic running stopped as he saw another blue head, surrounded by his friends.

“Hijirikawa, what a fast comeback! I don’t know you can run so fast with those _hakama_ and _haori_ ,” his roommate, Jinguji Ren exclaimed, automatically receiving a scowl from the scion.

“Shut up, Jinguji!” Masato totally forgot that he was supposed to look elegant with his Japanese traditional attire and not running around like a certain cartoon character.

“Hijirikawa, there you are!” the shortest one, Kurusu Syo exclaimed, drawing the others’ attention to the said A class student. “Please do something about this idiot. It’s looked like he  caught a nervous breakdown all of sudden.”

“Yeah, Masato-kun. Please help Tokiya-kun,” The tallest one in the group, Shinomiya Natsuki said out of concern. In spite of his upcoming turn , he still had time to worry about other person.

If only that person was not Tokiya..

“Are you serious?” Masato’s blue eyes got wider out of worry as he approached the target of their concern. “Oi, Tokiya! Are you okay?”

“I..am okay.”

Well, reading from the reply alone, you could guess that Tokiya was not okay as he suggested. For his friends, they could see how hard for Tokiya to overcome his anxiety. His hands shivered crazily even he tried to restrain them. His eyes did not meet theirs. Instead, the blue orbs just stared at his fidgeting legs out of terror.

Those listed gestures were not something that they would expect from Ichinose Tokiya if you knew and being in the same school with him for three years. That ashen face was not something that they would expect from Ichinose Tokiya who was supposed to be the strongest candidate for the winner of their graduation auditions.

“Don’t lie to me,” Masato held Tokiya’s shoulders, indirectly forcing the blue head to meet his eyes. "Tokiya, just so you know, everybody, either the audience or us, always get your back. We all know that you can do it, Tokiya!”

“No, I..I can’t..” Tokiya shook his head in alarm, rather panicky with the fact that everybody had high expectation on him when he himself turned vice versa.

“Tokiya…” Syo could only mutter his name as he felt devastated with his friend’s helplessness.

“Yes, you can do it,Tokiya. Do you remember what you have told us before? We will achieve this together. We will be the best idols, just like how we dreamed of. Are you going to just abandon your dream like that? You want this to happen since you are what? Seven years old, right? Now, the door to your dream is here, right in front of you. You just have to pull yourself together,Tokiya!”

“It’s.. it’s not the same anymore, Masato. He’s.. he’s not here. I don’t think I can do this.”

Tokiya’s confession was like a stab on their hearts. Everybody turned despondent, clearly understanding the pain and sorrow that Tokiya had to bear all this time.    

Since two months ago, it took everything for them to nurse Tokiya who was used to suffer from a severe depression before. They were always there when he had spent his time in his bedroom, mourning for someone who never came back to him. They never gave up in cajoling Tokiya to go to school again.

But now, Tokiya’s performance was next and he suddenly said he could not do it. What should they do then?

“Tokiyaaaaa!” all of sudden, they could hear an obviously fake and high-pitched voice, coming from one of them. When they finally could figure out the owner of the weird voice, they just stared blankly at the said person. “ _Mou_ , you look so nervous! You are going to give the best performance and you still show that face? _Hora,_ Tokiya! Just grin widely like this! Come on, grinnnn!”

Instead of doing as he was instructed, like the others, Tokiya just stared blankly at the weirdo.

“That’s what your brother will say if he is still here, right? So, please.. do your best for the sake of him. I believe, he never want to see you in this kind of state, Tokiya.”

“Masato..” Tokiya finally commented. “Next time, please do something about your impersonation. You sounded foolish.”

“Tsk! At least I made you feeling better, you fool!” Masato suddenly snapped, returned to his original personality. Yes, he is really bad at impersonating a cheerful and childish person, so what?

The group suddenly split their sides, feeling entertained by Masato who tried so hard to keep up Tokiya’s spirit to the point of impersonating the late Otoya.

“Because of Icchi, Hijirikawa surprisingly showed off his hidden talents; running like a wild animal and impersonation…auch!” Ren quickly received a punch on his flat stomach from Masato.

“Look! I need to embarrass myself in order to keep up your spirit! You should be grateful, Tokiya,” instead of emitting a dark and intimidating aura, Masato gave a comical effect instead.

 _“Wakatta,”_ Tokiya wiped his watery eyes from flowing and in the background, you could hear Syo mumbled ‘he said that Tokiya should be grateful. What a joke!’ while still laughing.

Thanks to Masato. Thanks to everyone who had always been the good friends for him when he was suicidal and could not accept the fact that he lost a family member.

A family member that he used to despise so much before.

Suddenly, he bowed 90 degrees, sending the others into a daze.

“Thank you very much, _minnasan._ Thank you for.. all the support that you guys gave to me. Including Masato's bad impersonation, it feels like.. he’s still here. Our Otoya is still here.”

They exchanged smiles before…

“Tokiya, are you ready? The performance.. eh, you are not nervous anymore?” Cecil suddenly interrupted them after making himself as busy as the crews.

“I guess so.. thanks to someone’s impersonation..” Tokiya slowly walked out from the backstage yet he still could hear Masato’s whine, followed by Ren’s teasing.

“The next idol will be…. Ichinose Tokiya from S Class!”

Tokiya inhaled slowly, letting the oxygen flew to his whole body. He did not need the winner title anymore. Instead, getting the chance for a debut was enough for him.

Otoya, by all means, please watch me…

* * *

 

 ** _This_** _is the night to remember mou wakatteta_  
_Kimi ga boku wo kaeru shunkan_  
 _Night to remember yoru ga fukereba_  
 _Atarashii jibun de Take you high_  
  
_Transform me kimi no Eyes_  
 _Transform me kimi no lips_  
 _Miserareru hodo Wild and Sexy_  
 _Transform me kimi no Voice_  
_Transform me kimi no Touch_  
 _Kimi no subete ni Spellbound_  
  
_Oh... You got me spellbound baby,_  
_Yeah... You just set me free_

As Tokiya finally wrapped his performance with the ‘Transform’ song, the whole hall was in a pregnant silence.

What’s with this silence? Was my performance so bad? Or my dance was too stiff? It couldn’t be. Syo said that it was perfect..

“Tokiya! Tokiya!Tokiya! Tokiya!”

With his body still gasping for a breath, he stared at the audience, feeling dumbfounded with their sudden screams and cheers.

It seemed like all his struggles and hard works to make it this far paid off.  

Yet, instead of the excellent performance, he still felt empty. Tokiya did not feel any sorts of satisfaction because apparently..

Otoya was not here. Apparently, Otoya, the one who he was supposed to celebrate their graduation audition together was not here.

Otoya was not here because he, Tokiya had _killed_ his own brother.

* * *

 

 **“Do** we have to do this?” Tokiya asked, rather lazily.

A few days after the graduation audition, he had to attend a special ceremony which aimed to celebrate those idols and composers who finally could debut professionally.

Or to be exact, he had to attend the ceremony so that he could give a speech and be interviewed.

“Of course we have. Remember, you are the winner of the graduation audition. Not to mention that you are the product of Saotome Academy so it’s natural for your fans and reporters to interview you. You should share the secret of your success so that it will create a good image for you as a new idol,” Ringo explained while giving the blue head a wink.  

And thus, after some refreshments, Tokiya was requested to get ready for his speech.

 “Next, I would like to call upon, the best idol and the winner of Saotome Academy graduation audition, Ichinose Tokiya to give a speech.”

Instead of its actual purpose which was to support him, the big applause just made Tokiya feeling about to vomit. Giving a formal speech should be a piece of cake for him who had always been the leader, no matter what kind of organization or club that he joined. But now, the circumstance, the nervousness was in whole different level. For him, his so-called perfection, his so-called leadership skill were useless since in his so-called perfect life, he used to commit a despicable wrongdoing that he would rather pay with his life instead.  

The wrongdoing which made him underestimating himself because it was enough to show just how..

Evil he was with his little brother. It is rather an expected responsibility since human beings, who grow up together as a family, under the same house will naturally love each other.

Yet, the nature did not exist in him and because of the fact alone, he was deeply ashamed of himself.

After restraining himself to not let the anxiety got the better of him, Tokiya carefully holding the microphone. He calmly listened to each question which most of them were about his secret of success.      

Everything was fine until the last question hit him.    

“And the next question is from.. I am sorry. The writer just introduced himself as ‘Me’. The question is.. You are good-looking. You are smart. You are a good singer and you can play all instruments. You are good in everything. Despite of that, if you have just one chance in your life, what will you wish the most?” the emcee, Mizuki asked.

It sounded simple but not for Tokiya. His lips was sealed even in his mind, without ever being pointed out, he already knew the answer.

He gazed at the audience. Obviously, they looked puzzled when he looked reluctant to answer the question.

“Oh, no.. is he going to break again?” Cecil fidgeted as he saw how despondent Tokiya was.

“I am sure he is not. Despite of his temper, we all know, Tokiya is not that childish. He never ruin this ceremony,” Masato assured.

Meanwhile, the blue head a.k.a the centre of the attention in the hall tried to hide the tears that built up in the corner of his eyes.

“Ichi..Ichinose-san, are you okay?” the female emcee asked, out of concern.  

“I am okay. If you don’t mind, may I answer it a bit longer? I need to clarify something.”

The emcee just nodded even she was still in a daze.

“Sure. Please take your time.”

Tokiya met the blue orbs of his father, right at the front row. The loving face instantly gave him a support that he needed. 

“To answer the last question, if I only have one chance, I want.. I want my brother, Ichinose Otoya to be alive again. I know it sounds absurd but for me, that’s my wish forever.”

The wish, which was carried by his cracked voice was enough to return the sorrow that they all shared since two months ago.

Ichinose Otoya, a student from A Class who is not only talented and popular for his good looks but he had the personality that everybody could not help but feeling attracted to him. The teachers even claimed that judging from his friendly and funny personality, he could be a promising star for variety shows.     

Yet, he could not make it. He left before he could even achieve any of his dreams.

“As the question itself somehow connected with his death, please lend me your ears so that I can explain the truth. Since two months ago, after my brother’s death, there are too many speculations circulated around. It’s not that our family refuses to tell the media about what exactly happened to him but the situation itself.. it’s way too complex and until now, my father and I still could not accept his death easily. Yet, since it somehow affects my father’s status, I think this is the right time for me to tell you the truth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, this is, again... like my first work, Crystal Time, it is supposed to be a story with my OCs but it turned out to be a fanfiction since both Tokiya and Otoya suit the main characters well. Hope you guys like the idea of making them as adopted siblings. 
> 
> And also.. the 'Transform' song which was sang by Tokiya is actually Mamo-chan's. I just love that song and can't help but imagining how will it look like if Tokiya performs that song on the stage. It will be really cool!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An introduction for the characters' personality traits..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being the first commenter, Victoria-san! Your comment made my day, honto ni!And also to Precious_Cinnamon_Bun_Named_Wibble-san and the guests who left Kudos for this story, thank you very much!

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

 

 **Two** months ago…

It was a typical morning for STARISH members (except Tokiya and Otoya who for some reasons were late for their breakfast). They enjoyed themselves eating a delicious meal, made by Masato.

Why STARISH though? Other than the fact that each letter stands for their names, ( **S** hinomiya Natsuki, Ichinose **T** okiya, **A** ijima Cecil, Jinguji **R** en, **I** chinose Otoya, Kurusu **S** yo and **H** ijirikawa Masato), they were also a bunch of hot and talented students who were close to each other. 

 “What a great breakfast… as expected from Masato _oka-chan_ ,” Cecil exclaimed excitedly as he took a bite. However, his frank praise gained himself a glare from the said mother figure.

“You guys should make your own breakfast sometimes.”

“But Masato, your meal is really delicious. They are irresistible to our tongues. Your sushi, your coffee… even raw chicken can be tasty. You are really good with your hands, Masato,” this time, Cecil nailed it. You could see it from the way Masato let out a fake cough as an attempt to conceal his red face.

Well, no matter how serious and cold someone can be, they are also a normal human being who naturally loves compliments.

“Shut up and eat.”

“ _Ara,_ Hijirikawa, you are blushing,” Ren exclaimed. He did not even flinch when Masato scowled at him, considering that was bound to happen anyway. 

“Want me to shove the bun into your big mouth instead?”

“Otoyaaaaaa!!!!!” an ear-splitting scream managed to distract the harmony in the cafeteria. Everybody turned to the source of the voice but there was no one could be seen.

 “You are so noisy, Tokiya!”

“Whose fault is that, you jerk!? What the hell did you do with my uniform!?”

Here we go, the next obligation or typical task that only a mother like Masato would manage to work out.

“Here we go,” Ren gave a smirk to Masato who just sighed for nth time just to take care of his friends…

Or his fake children.

“Is that Tokiya-kun?” Natsuki asked innocently.

“Who else, though? The one who is hardworking enough to train his vocal this damn early,” Syo scoffed while taking a sip of miso soup. “Hijirikawa, are you not going to do anything? I am afraid Tokiya will really.. I mean, really slice Otoya into pieces.”

“You are right, Kurusu. I guess I have to do that,” Masato left them, dragging his tired feet to the dorm.

“It’s tough to be a mother. You basically take care of everything from scratch,” Cecil commented, suddenly feeling the longing for his mother in Agnapolis.

“Why do we always make it sound like Hijirikawa is the real mother, though? He didn’t even give birth to us,” Syo remarked when in fact, he also treated the said blue head as one. “I bet he also doesn’t wish to have this kind of destiny when he is supposed to be an idol.” 

“Said someone who always comes to Masato whenever his shirt is torn or whenever he’s hungry,” Cecil bashed.

 “Shut up!”

“It can’t be helped, right. Masato-kun is too hardworking. He even refuses whenever I want to lend a hand,” Natsuki interrupted.

“That’s called being safe, not being hardworking,” Syo mumbled while his mind created a terrifying image of Natsuki’s chocolate cookies.

They are too disgusting, enough to take your life away.

Meanwhile…

“Say that you will sing a duet with me and I will give you back your uniform.”

Masato was served with the unsightly sight of Tokiya, who wore a singlet and a purple towel wrapped around his waist. He bit his lips in anger as he glared at Otoya who properly dressed but sticking his tongue out at his brother.  

 “Not even in your birthday, sweetheart,” Tokiya mocked, completely unaware of Masato’s presence. All he cared was he should ravage Otoya if this kiddie continued being childish and ludicrous.

“Did you just call me _sweetheart_? How sweet are you, Tokiya _oni-chan_!”

“What.. What did you call me?” Tokiya was sure that his ears still functioned well but those words were a downright taboo for him so he just needed to make sure that his brain absorbed the information well.

Oh, no! Masato gasped in alarm. Even he was not supposed to get involved with this immature and baseless bickering, Masato could somehow smell the upcoming death as Tokiya would go berserk which led, like Syo had said, Tokiya to kill Otoya eventually.

Masato knows how much Tokiya hated the word _‘Oni-chan’_ once it comes out from Otoya’s mouth.

“Tokiya _oniii_..”

“Stop!” Masato suddenly closed the read head’s mouth, much to the siblings’ shock.

“Masa…I cannot breath..” Otoya muffled desperately as he gasped for oxygen.

“Masato, what are you doing here?” Tokiya asked, innocently.

“What do you mean ‘what am I doing here’? You guys just cannot be quiet when you are around each other, can’t you?” Masato pulled away. “Otoya, give me your closet key.”

“Ehhh, Masa, why all of sudden..”

“Just give it!” Masato insisted sternly, enough for the read head to hand him the key.

Without saying anything, Masato unlocked Otoya’s closet before taking out Tokiya’s already-ironed uniform in the midst of Otoya’s clothes which are similar in color, much to the siblings’ shock.

“Ehhh? Masa, how did you find it?” Otoya asked, sending the said blue head rolling his eyes.

“Given that you are not smart enough to have your own secret base or something, that is bound to happen anyway,” Masato scoffed as he crossed his arms.

“ _Mou,_ that’s mean. I am not that stupid, you know. Masa is just too smart.”

Masato sighed in annoyance before turning his attention towards the still perplexed Tokiya. “And you, Tokiya, put on your clothes or you will get late to the school.”

“Thanks, Masato,” after looking daggers at the cheeky Otoya, Tokiya went to his room side before starting dressed.

“What the hell are you doing this time, Otoya? Can you just leave him alone for the God sake?” Masato murmured.

“Hey, that’s not fair to scold me alone, Masa! Tokiya is the one who mean to me first. I asked him to teach me singing but he just brushed me off. I asked him to sing together with me but he called me crazy! But with you, Masa, he even cross-dressed to help you with your acting. That’s not fair!” Otoya deliberately shouted, just to make Tokiya became more annoyed.

“Do you have to remind with that disturbing scene, Otoya? Just knock it off!” Masato massaged his forehead. It was not like he enjoyed himself seeing Tokiya cross-dressing, though. In fact, it gave him a nightmare. “You can ask Shinomiya to teach you instead. Just please stop bothering your brother, won’t you?”

“But Masa..”

“Hey, I am not his brother!” apparently, hearing that somebody addressed him as Otoya’s brother is much more depressing than hearing somebody reminded him with the cross-dressing activity. 

“You want me to call you _oni-chan_ instead, Tokiya _oniii..”_

“Do it or you never make a chance to debut,” Tokiya instantly emitted a purple and menacing aura.

“Oi, _omaera!_ ” Masato flicked their foreheads as a last resort.

“It hurts!” the siblings shouted furiously as they glared at Masato.

“Forcing me to do something like this every freaking morning…I am not your _oka-chan_ for the God sake!”

“Eh, you’re not?” Tokiya asked, seemingly not afraid to die.

“You want to die?”

“Sorry..” Tokiya felt his body shrunken.

“Stop fighting or I will report this to your father. Oh my.. Kazuki _ojisan_ , apparently, it is impossible for me to look after your stupid sons..” Masato looked into the sky, rather sad with this tough task or to be exact, his destiny when in fact Tokiya is the same age as him and Otoya is just one year younger than him.

Yet, dealing this pair of his childhood friends just took his youth away. Whoever ended up marrying him would be so lucky because apparently, he was more suitable to be the mother instead.

“Tokiya, after breakfast, I want to talk to you,” with the remark which sounded more like a mandatory order, Masato left the siblings by themselves.

“He really resembles our mummy,” Otoya commented, not aware that he received a death glare from Tokiya.

‘Our’ mummy, huh?

* * *

 

 **“You** should be considerate with Otoya, you know,” Masato advised as soon as Tokiya was done with his breakfast. They were currently talking in a very silent corridor, hoping that they would not bump into anybody.

“What? Me? Are you..” Tokiya showed an exaggeratedly shocked face. As if he never realized that he had been too harsh to Otoya all this time.

“Yes, you and yes, I am serious,” Masato replied, rather grimly. “You are the brother so you should tolerate his personality.”

And this time, as predicted, Tokiya gave a very dissatisfied look that Masato was so accustomed with before...

“Masa!” Tokiya exclaimed with his infamous and childish tone. He only used ‘Masa’, Masato’s childhood nickname when he complained.

“Toki!” meanwhile, Masato only used ‘Toki’ when he demanded Tokiya to listen to him. “Either you like or not, Ittoki Otoya or Ichinose Otoya is your family. You should do something about your relationship.”

“But, Masa..”

“What I am telling you is I want you to open up to him. Take your time to get chummy with him, not making bigger obstacles when he wants to get close with you. Don’t you pity him? He tries so hard to win your heart and yet, you just brush him off. Please act your age for the God sake! Whatever you do, your late mother will never be alive again…”

The atmosphere suddenly become menacing as Tokiya’s striking face turned fierce. Apparently, it was enough to creep Masato out. To be honest, while the others perceived him as the only one who Tokiya would listen to, Masato had this side when Tokiya could scare the living daylights out of him when he saw this particular side of Tokiya.

Nobody including Otoya ever saw how insane Tokiya could get when he reached his last straw.

Nobody knew that after their mother just died, Tokiya swore that he would never forgive the red head. Instead, he would find a way to take his revenge on Otoya.

Oh my... that beast-looking face! I should come up with something else before Tokiya gets more barbaric, Masato thought in desperation as he met eyes with Tokiya.  

“Er.. By the way….What happened with Shibuya? Do you..”

“Nope,” the menacing atmosphere suddenly turned flowery, much to Masato’s disgust but at least, his attempt to make Tokiya stopped angry worked out. Instead, the vocalist from S Class suddenly turned sheepish.

Since when did this idiot can make these flowers floated, though? Masato’s blue orbs scanned the animated roses, orchids and many types of flowers that appeared out of nowhere around him.

“Eh? Last night you said that you wanted to confess to her. What happened? Did you finally realize that you have the least possibility to go out with her, considering your personality is not that good so you decided to give up on her and let her be with a much better guy than you?”

The fact that Masato blurted out those lines in just one single heck of breath was one thing but what made Tokiya feeling more insulted than amazed was…

This so-called nice childhood friend of him literally insulted him for having a series of bad personality traits.

“You could put it in nicer way, Hijirikawa Masato,” Tokiya noted with a poker face that suggested his annoyance, much to Masato’s satisfaction.

“What do you mean? Did I put it wrong? I don’t think so, though. Even you are my best friend but your personality is really terrible, Tokiya.”

Apart from both of them, nobody really knew that Tokiya is actually a hot-tempered, selfish, childish, thick-skinned, foul-mouthed and rude human being. In fact, their principal was the one who suggested him to portray himself as a cool, considerate, mature, humble, soft-spoken and polite idol-to-be. Thanks for the suggestion, everybody in the school was deceived by his flawless image.

“Then, what about your feeling to Nanami-san!? I bet you don’t even confess to her yet! Instead, you keep pretending that you accidentally bump into her every time she is sad! You even act like you are a prince from a Disney movie when in fact, all you have to do is teaching her how to play piano! No need to be so narcissistic about that!” Tokiya deliberately shouted childishly about every single cheesy thing that Masato would probably do as an attempt to take his revenge on the blue head.

“Hey, don’t make up your own version of Cinderella story! I never done that!”

“Said someone who is so desperate to be Nanami-san’s Prince Charming! I warned you, please don’t feel safe enough when I am around!” Tokiya’s voice got louder, much to Masato’s panic. What happened if somebody eavesdropped on their immature bickering which contained their top secrets? It would be a complete doom, of course. 

“You..! Can you please do something with your loudspeaker voice!? What happen if anybody hears us?”

“Then, please declare to everyone that I am the angel of this school,” Tokiya crossed his arms while shamelessly threatened his best friend.  

“Declare to everyone that you are the angel? How thick-skinned!” as he is also a student with singing as his speciality, Masato did not have any problem to match Tokiya’s vocal ability.

“Masato, do I look that low to you? Which part of the ‘calling me an angel’ makes me thick-skinned, though?”

“Are you asking me because you don’t know, Tokiya? Like seriously?” Masato tilted his head, out of disbelief. “For the last time, just accept the fact that you are not angelic! You are actually far from it. You are just a perfect idol-to-be who will be a jerk when it comes to his own brother.”

“I told you he is not my brother and just so you know, I will treat an angel angelically but for a curse like him.. of course I will treat him the worst!” Tokiya stormed out, leaving the perplexed and dejected Masato behind.

Seriously, just for how long do you intend to resent Otoya, Tokiya? Masato sighed in frustration.

* * *

 

 **“Waaaa,** what a delicious curry we have here!” Cecil exclaimed as Haruka opened the lid, revealing a mouth-watering Japanese curry. “Our group is so lucky, right? While the others need to queue up in cafeteria for their foods, we have Masato and Haruka who are very good in cooking.”

“You said that because you just want to eat,” Syo muttered.

“Please dig in, _minnasan,_ ” Haruka offered as she scooped rice for the boys. “And Tomo-chan too..”

“Yeah.. thank you, Haruka..” Tomochika, the so-called best friend of Haruka curved in a fake smile.

Here she goes, the frigging damsel in distress with her ability to show off just how ‘Mary Sue’ she is. It must feel nice, right? All the hot guys ended up throwing themselves into your net, the long-haired girl said internally. Believe it or not, Shibuya Tomochika held an extreme and critical jealousy in her heart when it comes to Haruka. Sure.. when it was their first rendezvous, Tomochika was the one who got way too friendly with Haruka to the point of they became best friend as she requested. Haruka, being nice and innocent she is, treating Tomochika as she is the most precious friend that she ever had which is true because growing up in a small village, suffered from an illness, Haruka did not grow in a beautiful childhood with a lot of friends.

She never knew that the only reason why a hot chick like Tomochika got interested with her all of sudden was because making friends with a nerd like Haruka means Tomochika would be complimented with;

“What a good girl. With her look, she can hang out with much popular friends, but she chose to hang out with the dork. That’s rare!”

“Obviously Shibuya hangs out with the nerd because she empathizes her. The nerd should be grateful to Shibuya.”

“Shibuya is like a goddess. She is gorgeous, stylish and popular. That Nanami should learn from her instead!”

However, Tomochika’s ‘Regina George’ life just lasted less than a month when suddenly, a bunch of hot guys with the STARISH as their group name suddenly got interested with Haruka. According to them, they were drawn to everything about her. Even she was not sure either all of them secretly love Haruka or vice versa, it still…

savagely destroyed Tomochika’s pride. She is the symbol of elegance in the school but in the eyes of those guys, Haruka is like a blessing that they never found anywhere.

Not to mention that recently, she just found out that she and Haruka loves the same person and the person is STARISH member.   

“So delicious!” Natsuki, who was the first to eat exclaimed cheerfully. “Haru-chan, can you teach me how to cook this?”

“Yeah, sure..” Haruka agreed awkwardly as she could see the rest of them gave her a carefully but desperately ‘don’t teach him or you’ll never see the sunset again’ look.

“Nanami, whoever marries you must be the luckiest one. You will be a good wife,” Otoya blurted out a casual but sincere compliment to the rosette while he was still busy chewing the meat.  

“Ah..thank you,” everybody excluding Otoya could see how Haruka’s cute face turned so red.

They just smiled suggestively at each other except Tomochika. She bit her lips as she stirred her curry. Apparently, this hot chick could not and did not bother to learn how to cook so it was impossible for her to win Otoya’s heart with her cooking.

You’re such a bitch, Haruka! She insulted her best friend in her mind as she could see how happy Otoya  and Haruka were.

“Congratulations. You have a rival,” Tokiya whispered cheekily to Masato.

“Shut up.”

When the fact that Tokiya shared his love problem with Masato is because he only believed in the pianist, Masato only let the vocalist knew about his feeling to Haruka because he did not want to ruin their friendship. Apart from Tokiya and Cecil (who looked more suitable to be her brother because of his protective gene), he knows that the rest of his friends also loves Haruka.

He did not know about Otoya, though.  

 “Actually, Otoya, Haruka cooked it in such as big portion because she knows that you love curry!” Cecil exclaimed happily, much to their shock.

Hm..no. ‘Much to their shock’ is not the right term since every single soul in their group know that Haruka loves Otoya since a long time ago so..

The ‘much to their shock’ term could only be applied to Otoya, the typical guy who would automatically act innocent with his admirer’s unusually affectionate treatment to him when the rest of his group members know it.

Yet, come to think of it, his naivety did make sense because nobody.. I mean a normal human being normally does not have that enough confidence to claim that every girl who treats him nicely actually loves him in secret.

“Is that so? Thank you, Nanami! You are the best girl that I have ever met!”

“You sure know how to make a girl flattered, Otoya..” Syo remarked in awe.

“ I just said the truth, though. Nanami is a very nice girl. One of us should date her or she will be took away,” Otoya remarked casually, totally unaware of the ‘you are the one who talk’ look from the others.

“You heard that, Masato? One of us should date her or she will be took away,” Tokiya muttered.

“Are you really that desperate to die, Tokiya?”

Meanwhile, Haruka was busy glaring at Cecil who smirked at her. Well, at least ‘glaring’ is the most suitable verb in the eyes of others but for the pairs, it was a war of telepathy.

Haruka: Why did you state something like that, Cecil-san?

Cecil   : I just want to help you, Haruka.

Haruka: I thought I can trust you to not reveal my secret. I don’t want him to know.

Cecil   : Haruka, just so you know, you don’t have much time left. We only have two months before our debut. Since the ‘love is forbidden’ rule is lifted, you should do something about you and Otoya. You should go and grab him before someone else, who is looking daggers at you right now takes him away first.

Haruka: Eh, what do you mean? Who is looking daggers at me?

Haruka looked around but she could not see anyone in such category.

Meanwhile, Cecil stared at Tomochika who eventually pretended to eat the curry. Somehow, he could guess what Tomochika plotted all this time. Since the first day he saw Tomochika and Haruka hanged out together, he had this bad feeling whereby he had to protect Haruka from the sly fox. Yet, so far, he did not have any solid evidence which could convince Haruka that all this time, Tomochika was not being sincere with their friendship.

In fact, she just found the right time to humiliate Haruka.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for chapter 2! I deliberately made Tokiya and Masato addressed each other as their first names since they were already a pair of close childhood friends. And also I deliberately made Tokiya OOC with a lot of bad personality traits for the sake of the plot. Just like how the summary said, his hatred for Otoya eventually led to something unforgivable. Hope you like this story and feel free to leave a review. Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hearsay of Saotome Academy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you for the Kudos, Naniwise, AkashiSeijuro96, KiriAstra and the guests!

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA

 

 **“I** will leave first. See you guys later..” Tokiya stood up.

All STARISH members, Haruka and Tomochika knew where he would head to. With 30 minutes left, Tokiya would rather spend his time by revising notes or brushing up his singing by himself.

“Okay, see you in class,” Syo remarked as his mouth still chewed yakisoba.

And as expected, the fact that he left the cafeteria so damn early when the others still messed around has gained him countless gazes, both from male and female students. Just like how you see in _Ore Monogatari_ anime, (where the male students looked up to Takeo because he is strong), that was what we could describe about how those boys perceived Tokiya. They saw him as someone that they wish to be if they go through an incarnation. Tokiya is smart, handsome, physically alluring, a prodigy and possesses a dashing aura. Who doesn’t want to be him? Heck, even those alumni of Saotome Academy aka prolific idols also felt intimidated with him and perceived Tokiya as their rival even the said person had not even debuted yet.

 “As always, Ichinose-san looks so handsome!”

“His voice, his blue eyes, his smile… he is so flawless from head to toe!”

“I bet he will spend his break in training room. He is so diligent for a genius!”

“Otoya **,** can I ask you something?”

“What is it, Syo?” Otoya widened his crimson eyes as he took a few sips of tea.

“Is your brother a genius? No, I mean.. Don’t get me wrong. Studying in the same class with him everyday makes me wonder if he is my friend or superstar.. Even the teachers and principal acknowledge his talent. Is he that talented since he was small?”

Otoya put down his cup as he smiled proudly.

And Masato knows what did that smile mean and what would happen after this.

The _genki_ boy would talk excitedly about his beloved brother who in fact, never treated him in the same way.

“You could say that. When he was a kid, mummy used to tell me that Tokiya was scouted by our principal when he attended daddy’s birthday party. At first, the principal was attracted by his cuteness but once Tokiya performed a song to daddy, the principal offered him to be a celebrity under his talent agency but Tokiya rejected the offer.”

“Ehh? Why? What a waste..” Except Masato, all of them asked in unison.

“It’s because Tokiya did not want to live separately with mummy,” Otoya chuckled, gaining himself the same response. “Tokiya is so close with mummy so he didn’t want to leave mummy by herself. Daddy is always busy with his work, though.”

“What song did he sing in the birthday party, Otoya-kun?” Haruka pointed out.

“Obviously the international ‘Happy Birthday’ song,” Otoya answered innocently and excitedly but much to his confusion, the others comically fell down from their chairs out of shock (again, except Masato because he was one of the guests of the birthday party and Ren because his character is basically too cool to do a slapstick like that.).

 _“Mattaku..”_ Syo struggled to take a seat back.

“Did you really mean THAT happy birthday song, Otoya-kun?” Tomochika who was the first to calm down tried to confirm.

“Yes, that ‘happy birthday to you’..” Otoya suddenly sang, giving Haruka, who sat next to him a ‘your turn’look.

“Eh? Ha..Happy birthday to you..” Haruka sang sheepishly while eyeing Tomochika.

“Happy birthday to ‘insert name’..” Tomochika added, averting her gaze towards the confused Syo.

“Happy birthday to.. Oi, what the heck are you guys doing!?” Syo snapped while cursing himself for joining the random choir.

“That’s what I want to ask you guy,” Masato deadpanned.   

“What a lucky bastard.. to be scouted for singing ‘Happy Birthday’ song..” Syo remarked. “And yesterday, everybody swooned over him when he sang ‘All of Me’ in class.”

“His singing is sexy, though. But I bet he doesn’t even realize that too many girls besotted with him. You know what, Ikki? Your brother doesn’t even remember all his female classmates’ names because he said ‘they all looked the same to me’,” Ren commented while mimicking Tokiya’s deep voice.

“It does make sense, though.. How can he remember their names when all they did was screaming every time they saw him without properly introducing themselves to him?” Masato retorted. Tokiya is not that aloof but he finds himself not amused when his fans turned into a bunch of wild animals everytime they saw him. Why don’t they just calm the hell down at least for ten seconds?   

 “Yeah, Masa is right. I am actually looking forward to the day when Tokiya will fall in love with a girl. The girl must be lucky, right? Tokiya has a very good personality and always strives for his goal. I bet once she becomes someone so important in his life, he will do anything just for her sake.”

As Otoya continued to ramble on about Tokiya, Masato just let out a heavy sigh as he was in a deep thought about the siblings.

Which part of the idiot’s personality is good, though? Well, it’s not that he is soooo evil but he is still annoying and hard to deal with. Obviously Otoya always looks up to Tokiya no matter how mean he is. Poor Otoya. If he knows why on earth his brother hates him… Maybe I should do something to him. Or rather something for these two so that their relationship will be better...

“As expected from a guy who you want this academy to switch your life with, right?” Ren remarked while his orbs wandered around, searching for any girl that would possibly catch his interest.

Or at least someone that could replace Haruka in his heart because to make her his is like an impossible mission when your close friends also had their eyes for her.  

“Hm? What’s wrong with this academy?” Cecil asked.

“Oh.. Cecil doesn’t know about that rumour, right?” Otoya commented.

“Well, long story short, this academy has a strange rumour. It has the ability to grant your wish no matter how evil or angelic can it be. As long it comes from your heart, it will be granted. But like I said just now, it’s just a rumour so it is possible that those older generation just spiced it up. Moreover, logically speaking, how on earth this idol school can grant you something like that? It’s so random right?” Ren explained.

“Yeah, sure it is,” Otoya smiled. “But let’s say that the rumour is true, of course I will make a wish for mummy. I want her to be alive again so that she can come to see our debut performance,” Otoya’s childish reaction sent the other chuckled as they ensured that their sympathy would not be seen through.

Poor Otoya. It must be hard for him to live in orphanage and then, losing his adopted mother as well.   

“But if I am not mistaken, the academy cannot grant a reincarnation, right?” Natsuki asked.

“Yeah, Shinomi is right. This academy only grants your wish when there is still a hope. I am sorry but someone’s death is considered as something that you can’t change. It’s their destiny apparently,” Ren curved in a bitter smile to the red head.

“Oh, is that so?” Otoya sighed. Even it was a random rumour, he could not help but being frustrated. He really misses his mummy, though. “Well, if that’s the case, I guess I will wish for my family’s well-being, especially Tokiya. He easily gets angry whenever I pull a prank so I am afraid if that makes him growing wrinkles..”

“Excuse me?” they could feel the whole cafeteria turned into a chill as Tokiya, who was supposed to sing in his favourite training room was now standing right behind Otoya.

 _“Bikkurishitaaa…”_ Syo stroked his chest as he was still shocked with Tokiya’s magical appearance.

“Tokiya, what are you doing here? Since when you are here?” Otoya swallowed his saliva as he was panic-stricken.

“Does it matter?” Tokiya answered coldly as he took something from his seat just now.

“Since you guys talked about the Happy Birthday song,” Masato answered, sending the others gasped in horror.

“That’s the beginning! Are you saying that this guy eavesdropped on us? Why didn’t you tell us anything?” Syo complained.

“I don’t feel the obligation to do so,” Masato deadpanned.

Or to be more precise, I want that idiot to hear what Otoya thinks about him by himself.

“Why are you coming back, Tokiya-kun?” Natsuki asked.

“I left my wallet by accident,” the blue head replied before he finally and truly left them.

“Ichinose-san looks angry. Is there something wrong?” Haruka asked but gaining herself shrugs from the others except Masato.

He is angry because Otoya just prayed for him, Masato mentally answered.   

* * *

 

 **In** the evening, when Cecil, Masato, Ren and Tokiya gathered in their usual training room just to practice together for their graduation audition (even it was a solo debut). Tokiya was reading his notes, trying to gain himself a focus after it was shattered by Masato’s irritating advice, a few minutes before the practice started.

Speaking about Masato, he was currently debating with Cecil and Ren about being provocative with their dancing.

“Being sexy doesn’t mean you should sway your butt around, you know? Just cut it out already!” Masato retorted while crossing his arms.

“But you and Tokiya did it last year and everybody said it was sexy! We want to do something like that too!” Cecil reasoned out. He was referring to their performance during Saotome’s birthday party last year. Everybody said that Masato and Tokiya did a very awesome job yet God knows how after the performance…

They both cried together because of embarrassment. The blue-headed duo suddenly activated their telenovela mode, talking rubbish together while drinking orange juice.

“At least your are wearing a tailcoat, Masa! You still look decent if you danced like that. Unlike me… what’s with this open back style? I am cold!!” Tokiya cried out while wrapping the soft cloth which is sewed on his shoulder around his body.

“But, Toki.. that dance suits you, though. You have a sexy image. But me.. someone who spends his entire life with traditional way of life… _otosan_ will spank me for sure!”  

They even rambled on how they would offer themselves to any kind of entity who were willing to take them away as a sacrifice rather than continuing their life as a provocative dancer. They almost dramatically committed a suicide by intending to jump into the academy lake before Otoya and the others rescued them. It took all for them to convince the best friends to calm the hell down, though.  

“We did it because you and Jinguji suggested it but at the end, the principal chose us to do it! Now, don’t be ridiculous and stop thinking about showing off your disgusting butts around!” Masato practically shouted at the top of his lungs now but his emotional outburst just made them pulling a long face.

“ _Mou,_ you are such a party pooper, Masato!” Cecil pouted.

“Yeah, Cesshi is right. I didn’t train my body for nothing you know? I also have muscles that I want to show off to those Little Lambs,” Ren also reasoned out.

 “You guys are supposed to be an idol. Stop being indecent, will you!? Oi, Tokiya! Are you just going to sit there? Please give a good scold to these morons!” Masato desperately needed some support from the guy who certainly shared the same opinion with him aka Tokiya.

“Nah, it’s a pain.. Let them be, _okachan_. Let them suffer from a swaying-their-butts-on-the-stage post-traumatic stress disorder,” Tokiya answered, being lackadaisical as always.

“So, are you saying that we should let them perform indecently like that? Come on, Tokiya! Are you still sulking because of what I said just now? Oi, Tokiya!”

“I cannot focus, Masato! Just shut up already!” Tokiya shifted his position so that he would not be bothered by Masato’s desperate pleading.  

Speaking of still being sulking..

“Otoya totally looks up to you, Tokiya. Whenever somebody asks him about you, he always sugar-coats things.. No, don’t give me that look. For me, he stills sugar-coated because he praised you way too much when in fact, all this time, you are always mean to him. Please,Tokiya.. don’t make your relationship with him becomes worse. Just forgive him, okay?”

That was what Masato referred to.

Easier for you to say, Tokiya chuckled sarcastically. No matter how sweet Otoya was with him, it would not change the fact that…

His mother, Ichinose Suzuna died because of him.

Tokiya recalled the day when Otoya was brought to his house from the orphanage. Believe it or not, Tokiya was the happiest person who welcomed him, saying that from the day on, they both are siblings. The fact that he used to grow up alone in the luxurious house, getting himself whatever he wished did not change the fact that he was a gold-hearted boy. He promised to himself that he would be the best brother to Otoya. He would ensure that Otoya would forget the feeling of being an orphan. He knew that Otoya blamed himself for being the reason of his parents’ death but Tokiya just brushed it off with..

“Hey, don’t think like that. There is no way one can be a reason for someone’s death. If the heaven calls your parents, there is nothing we can do. Instead, you should be happy here with me so that your parents in heaven also will be happy.”

That was what he said when he was ten years old.

Yet, everything totally changed when one day, both of them and Suzuna went to do some shopping. Suzuna was driving when Otoya suddenly got curious with how the car worked.

“Mummy, can I drive? I want to drive a car like mummy too!”

“Not yet, dear. You are just nine years old. You cannot drive yet.”

“But mummy, I really want to drive. Please mummy!” as he got more desperate, Otoya suddenly spun the steering…

Which unexpectedly became a catastrophe to the family. The car lost control and got crashed by a lorry. The siblings had a minor injury except from the fact that Otoya lost his memory of the accident while Suzuna flatlined after four days in coma.

Being the sole witness of the tragedy, Tokiya could not help but being haunted by too many thoughts.

If only Otoya did not become a sudden daredevil...

If only Otoya did not follow them for the shopping…

If only Otoya was not even in their house…

Suzuna would still be alive. Suzuna would still be here.

But because of the adopted child who appeared out of nowhere, his life was destroyed. Undoubtedly, Otoya was not supposed to be here.

Undoubtedly, he was the curse who would kill whoever around him including his parents.

So, he should not be Ichinose’s member anymore. He should get rid of Otoya before Tokiya ended up losing his father afterwards.  

But everyone said to Tokiya..

“It’s not his fault.”

“Otoya is just a child. He doesn’t know anything.”

“I believe your mother also doesn’t blame him.”

Including Masato, everyone.. Just everyone was on Otoya’s side.

Which led Tokiya to despise the red head more..

“Tokiyaaaa… Toookiyaaaa? TOKIYA!”

The ear-splitting scream managed to send Tokiya to the floor out of surprise. For the first time in their life, the Ichinose Tokiya who never kissed the floor just for the sake of performing slapstick did so.

“Otoya..!” Tokiya clenched his teeth while struggling to not curse the red head, at least not in front of others.

Just like what Shining Saotome said, he must be a perfect idol-to-be.

And that perfection including the way he puts his words. He should talk courteously even in fact, according to Masato, his mouth would naturally let out all those ‘beautiful’ profanities once someone gets on his last nerve.

 “Hahahhahaa.. I am sorry. I never thought that you can do a slapstick comedy, Tokiya. Come on, take my hand,” Otoya obviously meant it as a joke but Tokiya never took it as one. Instead, whatever came out of the mouth seemed like the worst insult ever.

“No way! Can you just please shut up and get the hell out of here!?” Tokiya blurted out an off-the-cuff scream while smacking the smaller hand away before quickly regretting it while Masato resisted himself to gasp dramatically.

Because according to the principal, he should be perfectly polite and chummy even with his own brother. No single soul should know that their relationship was terrible.

He looked around hesitantly. Apart from Masato who already knows his true personality, everybody could not contain their surprise after the sudden outburst.

‘I can’t believe Tokiya could be that harsh, though. Let alone with Otoya, his own brother’. That was what everybody tried to say, enough from their stares.

He could not stand with the stares. It seemed like everybody judged him. Everybody was blaming him.

So, he ended up excusing himself from the practice room, startling the others.

“Tokiya!” Otoya tried to chase him.

“Otoya, just let him be,” Masato restrained the red head because he knew Tokiya too well to predict what would happen next if Otoya pursued the blue head. It would encourage more expletives from him of course. “Just let him calm down first.”   

“It seems like you guys don’t get along, huh?” Syo who just arrived with Otoya and Natsuki guessed.

“Maybe they are just teasing each other? You know, siblings’ quarrel is quite normal and cute to watch,” Natsuki commented.

“There is no way a great guy like Tokiya will treat his brother so harsh like that. Obviously, it’s just a joke,” Cecil reasoned out, trying to deny the drama that he viewed just now.

Obviously, they don’t get along. Why are you guys trying so hard to deny the truth? Gosh, this so-called ‘Mr.Perfect’ image looks so tiring to handle. Tokiya must be stressed out as well, Masato sighed heavily.

“Hijirikawa..” Ren initiated.

“What?”

“Is Icchi stressed out about something? I mean.. The way he shouted just now.. It didn’t look like him.”

No, you are wrong. That’s his true personality. In fact, that’s how he behaves when Otoya is around but of course I cannot say something like that when Otoya is here, Masato mentally answered.

“Yeah, it didn’t look like him, right? Tokiya isn’t always like that you know. I am sure he is depressed about something right, Masa?” Otoya smiled cheerfully, trying hard to not show that he was a bit hurt and humiliated from what happened just now.

Yeah, you are one to talk, Masato sighed before his brain coming up with someone who most probably could cheer Tokiya.

Tokiya probably let out his stress in somewhere else. I just have to call her and ask her to go there instead, Masato thought as he took out his cell phone.

“Excuse me for a while,” Masato headed to outside before dialling that person’s number.

“Hello. Are you free now? Well, you see. Tokiya is having a mental breakdown about his singing. Yes, yes. Can you help him?”

* * *

 

 **Tokiya’s** well-trained chest gasped for oxygen after singing for 30 minutes straight. He picked all the hard songs so that he would totally focus on the song and not on certain red head that blew his so-called perfect idol image just now. He did not even bother to wipe his sweaty forehead. He just wanted to sing again until he completely forgot about his stress. Masato most probably would cover him, explaining to the others that he was not being himself just now but Tokiya did not care.

It was all Masato’s fault anyway, his immature way of thinking reasoned out. If Masato did not try to be an instant advocator, saying Otoya was so nice to him, he would not be angry in the first place and he would not lash out and humiliate Otoya like just now.

Next song would be…

Oh, the high-pitched part in Phantom of the Opera song. For some reasons, he and Masato like to watch the stage performance of that song. They even spent their time admiring how great Nicole Scherzinger and Sierra Boggess sound.

 “I bet they can relieve their stress when they sing the high note. It is way too long and hard.”

Yeah, Masato is right.

Since he was stressed out anyway, he might as well try it even he was not really sure with his vocal ability. He stood up, clearing his throat before beginning to sing.

It was surprisingly smooth and sweet. He was so engrossed by the song until he did not realize that the room door was opened by someone.

“ _Sugoi,_ Tokiya-kun!”

Huh, who the hell?

Tokiya spontaneously looked daggers to the door as he really wanted to be alone but as soon as a beautiful face that he always glanced at registered in his mind, his glare automatically turned softer.

It was Shibuya Tomochika.

“Ops, I am sorry. Am I bothering you?”

“Huh? Of course not,” he tried to act as friendly as possible.

Okay, Tokiya. Please activate your perfect idol mode now.

“How can you sing like that? It was.. I don’t know what to say… It’s hard to imagine that you are still studying here. You should debut since a long time ago, Tokiya-kun!”

“Thank you. It’s such an honour to hear that,” Tokiya slightly bowed as he mentally cursed himself for being too formal. He was elated and nervous to act properly.  

“Ah, by the way, take this. You are soaking wet, Tokiya-kun.”

Instead of taking the white handkerchief that she handed to him, Tokiya continued to stare at the girl, wondering if it was just his cheesy imagination for her to suddenly appear like this before realizing that he did not think about her at all before. Much to his surprise, the school goddess wiped his forehead.

“But of course you are handsome either you are sweaty or not,” she complimented.

“No, I am not,” he restrained himself from showing a slightly annoyed face expression when she praised his good look because it just reminded him with his crazy fans. They called him their God for being so handsome. They even described that his body is sexy, much to his fright.

“I guess you don’t like being called handsome, right?” Tomochika knew she just hit the nail on the head.

“I am sorry, That’s not what I mean, Shibuya-san..”

“It’s okay. I totally understand that,” much to his surprise, Tomochika took a seat next to him, staring at the ceiling for a while, seemingly deep in thinking. Tokiya for whatever reason ended up following her lead. “In fact, I am also tired like you.”

“Eh?”

“A perfect idol image,” her sparkling eyes stared deep inside his blue one, “I believe I am not the only one who suffers from that kind of image, right?”

“Shibuya-san, do you mean..” he could feel a cheesy string of happiness in him as he found that there was another person who could relate to his situation.

Not to mention the said person is Tomochika, the girl that stole his heart.

“Yeah, I am,” she smiled. “The principal also assigned me to be a perfect idol. I have to be perfect in whatever I do. Since I don’t want to disappoint him and I really want to be a professional idol anyway, I have no choices. I have to put up with that image.”

“But, you don’t look like one. I mean.. You are perfect to the point of you don’t look like you are acting.”

Unlike me..

“Is that so?” the gorgeous girl grinned widely but it just made her so beautiful. “ _Yokatta.._ I am so afraid if I look fake. Thank you, Tokiya-kun,” she grabbed his hand before squeezing it. “To hear something so encouraging like that from you, no wonder everybody says that you are inspirational. I think that you just got a new fan here.”

Her friendly touch and remark were enough to make Tokiya’s heart missed a beat. Thank God, he is blessed with a superb acting skill so to act that Tomochika’s touch was nothing special to him is just a piece of cake.

“But can you promise me that it will be a secret between us? I totally forgot that it was supposed to be a secret between the principal and me.  Can I count on you, Tokiya-kun?”

“Eh? Yeah, sure.”

Did she just say that I am the only one who knows her secret?  

Apparently, Masato really knew how to lift up his mood.

       

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tokiya was over the moon. Otoya was puzzled. Masato's life turned chaotic...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you for the awesome comment, Naniwise-san!

CREDITS TO: UTA NO PRINCE SAMA and Japan-guide.com, gurunavi.com (for the table manners information)

**It** was morning but not typical.

Why? First of all, Masato did not cook for his friends. Instead, he brought his own favourite melon bread with a poker face and ate it quietly. The others eyed each other before jumping to the conclusion that Masato most probably was jaded to feed them when they were not even his baby birds. So, Syo, Cecil, Natsuki and Otoya ended up cooking something simple for themselves (which initially failed for three times before Ren came later to save them).

But the ‘not typical’ term did not stop there.

Masato turned scarily quiet today. Usually, as soon as his friends joined him, he would lecture about their table manners.

“Kurusu, where is your _‘osaki ni itadakimasu’_?”

 “Otoya, don’t play like that! Your chopstick is not a drumstick!”

“Don’t blow your nose when you are eating, Aijima!!”

But today, he was the one who did not state _‘osaki ni itadakimasu’_.

They tried to make him nagged by disobeying several types of table manners but to no avail. Heck, even Cecil was deliberately being disgusting by belching, munching his food loudly and blowing his nose but he still did not gain any response from the blue head.

“Oi, what’s wrong with him?” Feeling unsettled, Syo whispered to Cecil before gaining himself a shrug from the prince.

“He’s just depressed. Don’t bother about it,” Ren answered as he took a sip of tea.

“But, he did not say his beloved _‘osaki ni itadakimasu’_. Is that weird?”

“Yeah, he’s acting weird because he’s depressed, _Ochibi-chan_ ,” Ren rolled his eyes. He wondered why Syo always had a tendency to make a fuss when all he had to do is ignoring the person who obviously needs some privacy like Masato.  

“What’s he so depressed about, Ren-kun?” Natsuki asked as he noticed that Masato just grew a pair of dark circles.

 “Because of Icchi..”

“Eh? Why?”

_“Ne,_ Masa..” Otoya glanced at the said blue head.

“Hm?”

“When Tokiya is suddenly happy and smiled 24 hours a day, what does that mean?” Otoya asked, innocently.

“What kind of question is that, Otoya? Of course he is suddenly happy because he is happy. He smiles because he is happy,” Syo answered according to his logic.

“No. It means an apocalypse,” Masato answered, flatly and lifelessly. If this is an anime, most probably you could see a soul desperately tried to escape from his body.

“Ehhhhh? Why, though? Is Tokiya’s happiness is as sinister as an apocalypse?” Syo questioned in horror. “Not to mention you looked so stressed out nowadays, Hijirikawa. All this time, you will be anxious like _okachan_ when Tokiya is sad but now, when Tokiya is happy, you are sad instead. Just what the hell?”

“Just shut up, Kurusu! I am not in the mood to tell a bedtime story now!” Masato snapped, enough to make other students in the whole cafeteria flinched. “And you, Aijima! Stop blowing your nose!!”

“ _Itaiii!_ Masato, _itaiii!!_ ”

“You don’t know, _Ochibi-chan_? Icchi has disturbed Hijirikawa so often nowadays,” while Masato pulled Cecil’s ear for still being uncouth about Japanese table manners, Ren explained the circumstance to the curious Syo. “Don’t you realize that Icchi has not been like himself recently? He looked strangely happy.”

“Which made this school looked strangely flowery,” Natsuki pointed out while his eyes wandered around the cafeteria. It was full of roses with various colors, much to everyone’s ‘what the heck?’- type of confusion. “But still, they are all cute!”  

“If roses popped out so many like this, maybe it means one thing. Icchi has fallen in love,” Ren’s random but witty guess sent Masato to flinch before stopping victimized Cecil’s ear.

Damn.. If these guys know who that idiot loves.. It will be disastrous. What should I do?

“Eh, Tokiya is falling in love? That can’t be..” Otoya still looked dubious since Tokiya was not someone that you could associate with love. He never saw Tokiya got interested in any girls before. “But come to think of it, yeah, it does make sense. Considering he didn’t even scold me when we bumped into each other in our room.. Instead he..”

_“Ah, Otoya. Okairi! Got a late practice, huh?”_

That was how Tokiya greeted him in their room yesterday. I repeat, he GREETED, not SCOLDED. His voice was way too happy, much to the red head’s fright.

* * *

 

**“He** said _‘okairi’_ to me, Masa! Can you believe that, huh? Can you believe that?”  Otoya resisted himself to show just how shocked he was with Tokiya’s dramatic change until he was alone with Masato so that the others would not get the idea that receiving _‘okairi’_ from Tokiya was not normal at all.

 “No. I don’t really believe that unless something so great happened to him recently.”

Which is Shibuya Tomochika, of course. I am supposed to thank her but for some reasons, I cannot do so, Masato mentally commented. Thanks to whatever Tomochika had done to make the glum Tokiya turned delighted again, Masato who was not supposed to be the cast of this pathetic drama was the main victim now.

Why? Because since three days ago, he had to run away when he saw Tokiya because once they met eyes, Tokiya would…

“Masa!! She came to talk to me! She said she understood me!”

And he would hug Masato, much to the scion’s disgust. Yes, they used to do that a lot because Tokiya was a cute child who needed affection anyway. But that was 10 years ago. In this contemporary era where boys no longer feel comfortable to express affection to each other without being assumed as homosexual, one would see a pair of guys hugged each other with one of them got overexcited and cheesy as something either indecent or sweet, depending on one’s mindset.

Especially when the dramatic scene came from Tokiya and Masato, a pair of cool and charismatic guys who the pianist was aware that everybody in this school shipped them together. Heck, he just recently found from Natsuki that a female student had created a website whereby they could upload fanfictions about STARISH and much to his dismay, Hijirikawa Masato/Ichinose Tokiya pairing is the most popular one.

He just could not imagine how the earth would turn into once his orthodox father, Masaomi knew about the nonsensical pairing. He would find just any random daughter of his business acquaintances to be the pianist’s fiancée just to hide his sexual preference (which in reality, he is straight because he is in love with Nanami Haruka). Masaomi would forbid him from being close to Tokiya and Otoya which were the last thing that he wanted to do.  

He really loves the siblings, though. They are his precious friends.

But for the God sake, he needed to do something right now because not only Masato needed to endure the lunatic Tokiya but he was also bombarded with countless questions from others.

“Hijirikawa, are you sure Ichinose is feeling well? You know… it’s nice when he looks happy but to grin 24/7 like a clown.. I think you should bring him to a doctor,” Hyuga Ryuya, S Class homeroom teacher asked. Yeah, the buff teacher was concerned like other teachers and there was nothing wrong with that but…

‘But I am not his mother, Hyuga sensei’ was what Masato wanted to say. Why was he the one who should bring Tokiya to see a doctor? That idiot could go there by himself if he was concerned enough about his mental welfare!

But the worst part itself was when Masato was summoned by Shining Saotome, their intimidating principal…

“I noticed that Mr. Ichinose has been over the moon. Something happened, Mr. Hijirikawa?”

‘Why don’t you ask him yourself? I am not his mother, principal’ was what Masato really, really wanted to say but as much as he hated his mundane life now, he did not want to die just because he was churlish to Saotome.

“I guess he is just happy with his test result,” Masato replied as natural as possible but that just made the legendary celebrity turned more confused and suspicious.

“Oh, is that so? But these floating flowers never existed before when in fact, he always gets an excellent test result,” Saotome looked around, getting amazed to see those flowers around him. “See around here. These flowers are pretty, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are. I am pretty sick of it, though,” Masato mumbled.

“What did you say, Mr. Hijirikawa?”

“Nah, nothing,” Masato flinched.

“I love this atmosphere. It gives us a very welcoming and heart-warming atmosphere which suits our academy’s vision and mission well. If there is anything that can make Mr. Ichinose happy until he can produce something flowery like this, please inform me.”

“E.. Excuse me?”

* * *

 

**“And** so, I was assigned to find a way so that Tokiya that jerk will always be happy,” Masato ended his story with a heavy sigh. Hopefully, the kind-hearted Otoya would empathize with him.

“Wow, that’s tough..” Otoya was clearly showing sympathy but somehow, it looked downright insulting.     

“Don’t ‘that’s tough’ me! Does he think that he is Haruhi Suzumiya or something? Changing his environment like a boss!? But wait..” Masato’s outburst stopped immediately. His blue eyes suddenly brightened, much to Otoya’s bewilderment.

“Masa?”

“Otoya, do you want to be closer to your brother?” Masato grabbed the red head’s hand, seemingly desperate for a ‘yes’.

“Of course I want. Why?”

“Then, listen. This is your chance. The fact that he could say _‘okairi’_ to you when he couldn’t even see the tip of your hair previously means what? It means what, Otoya!?” Masato urged. As if he really needed Otoya to get the picture as soon as possible or else, he would be dead meat.

“It means he started to get chummy with me?”

“No, not really. It means he is too happy to be bothered with his dislike to you. So all you have to do is you need to find the source of his happiness. I know Tokiya. When he is happy, he needs someone to listen to his ramble 24/7 and all you have to do is being THAT unfortunate person.”

“But Masa, he has you already..”

“No, he has another option which is you! I know your relationship with him is not that good so use this chance to make the opposite.”

“But how?”

“I’ll show you. All you have to do is counting on me, Otoya!” Masato’s lifeless face suddenly turned unnecessarily heroic.

I don’t know how this may turn out but it’s not wrong to give it a shot, right? After all, I just want to see Otoya happy with his brother.

* * *

 

**“If** you want to get closer to Tokiya, first of all, you need to get close to him,” Masato stated as soon as they both agreed to launch their secret plan.

“Ehh? Why are you stating the obvious, Masa? I always try to get affable with him but just like what you see, he just cold-shoulders me,” Otoya pouted.

“It’s because your method is wrong, Otoya. First of all, please follow me but only one condition.”

“What is it?”

“Whatever happens after this, don’t associate my name with your mission, no matter what happen. Just pretend that you come up with all of this by yourself because if Tokiya knows, he will kill me for sure.”

So here he was, outside a practice room with Masato, peeking at Tokiya who sang ‘Fall in Love’ by Tae Yang (Big Bang) and Thelma Aoyama with Tomochika. Their sweet voices blended well together and if they kept practicing together, it would not be surprising if the principal assigned them to debut as a duo. Their looks and talents would bring more money for sure.

“Okay, good. They are having fun,” Masato muttered before turning to meet eyes with Otoya. “Our class will have Ringo sensei’s class in five minutes while S Class doesn’t have one so Shibuya will leave the room first. Since Ringo sensei will start his class late, I want you, Otoya to continue peeking at Tokiya. In less than five seconds, you will know what his secret is.”

“Eh? That easy!?” Otoya could not contain his shock as he spontaneously shouted, much to Masato’s panic. He quickly dragged Otoya to hide as he could predict that Tokiya and Tomochika would hear them and take a look outside.

“Eh? Is there anybody outside?” Tomochika’s voice echoed before they could hear footsteps approached them.

“Hm.. No one,” it was Tokiya who hung his head outside before walking his way back to the mic.

“Idiot,” Masato muttered angrily at the sheepish Otoya.

“Sorry,” Otoya followed Masato to continue with their peeks.

“So, Tokiya-kun, I guess I have to leave first. It’s fun to sing with you.”

“Owh, is that so? Okay, then. See you again. I also have fun,” Otoya swore, the way Tokiya looked at Tomochika was the most friendly and affectionate he had ever seen when the blue head hanged out with a girl.

“Thanks. So, at what time?”

“Excuse me?” Tokiya sounded confused.

“Owh, I thought that we will still practice together after this,” Tomochika obviously looked dejected and it piqued Otoya’s curiosity. “It was so fun to spend time with you, Tokiya-kun. It’s okay. Never mind..”

“Wait!” Tokiya quickly grabbed Tomochika’s hand, stopped her from leaving him abruptly. “I am sorry. That’s not what I meant. I mean… I do have this high hope whereby I want to practice singing with you every day. It’s nice to spend time with you every day because to tell you the truth, I.. I lo..”

Tomochika turned to meet eyes with Tokiya but the blue head suddenly stuttered.

Seriously, Tokiya? You are going to confess to her now? Then, my plan to make Otoya gets chummy with you will be failed, Masato anxiously waited for the confession to happen even he originally rooted for the couple.

“You what?” Tomochika encouraged as she smiled.

“I mean.. I really want to sing with you again. Tomorrow, at three o’clock will be nice, right? See you tomorrow,” Tokiya suddenly ruined the mood as he gave up to confess what he really felt about the gorgeous girl who stole his heart. Instead, he spoke way too fast about another topic.

“Eh?” Tomochika and the peeking duo outside the practice room had this ‘what the heck?’ expression over their faces.

The scenery around them had been quite romantic just now, right?

“Tokiya-kun, are you sure that’s what you are trying to tell me?” Apparently, Tomochika is not the annoying female lead who had her harem confessed their loves right in front of her faces but still remained clueless.

“Ye..yes. Ah, you have a class right? Why don’t you go now?”

“Ah, you are right. See you tomorrow, Tokiya-kun,” the girl grabbed her blazer and bag before heading to her class.

A few seconds passed…

“Okay, Otoya. Shibuya left so I will leave the rest to you, okay? Good luck!” Masato patted Otoya’s back before leaving the spot.

“Wait, Masa! _Chotto!_ ” Otoya got panicky as Masato left him in speechlessness and confusion. Just what exactly was he supposed to do?

“Shut up! He will hear you!” Masato desperately hushed the noisy red head as he ran away before completely disappeared.

It was such a silent corridor.

“Huh, silent? Why so silent? What the heck is Tokiya doing? Is he taking a break?” Otoya mumbled as he approached the door.

The next thing he saw was the sight that he never expected would come from Ichinose Tokiya, the so-called perfect school idol aka his mean brother.

He could see clearly that Tokiya was grinning like an idiot while staring at a picture in his hand.

Without having the slightest afraid to die at such young age for invading Tokiya’s privacy, Otoya walked his way towards Tokiya.

“Fuh, that was close… I almost confessed to her…”

“Then why didn’t you?” Otoya’s nonchalant question sent Tokiya to scream at the top of his lungs. In the blink of an eye, the ‘whatever’ that Tokiya held flew away before…

It landed straight onto Otoya’s shoe.

 “What are… Huh, Tomo-chan!?” Otoya  exclaimed as she picked up the picture of Tomochika and Tokiya. Tokiya looked nervous while Tomochika had her hand held Tokiya’s shoulder while smiling brightly.  

At that time, Tokiya was praying that the earth would open widely and swallow him instead as Otoya stared at it in awe. His expression was like a kid who just saw a lollipop for the first time.

“Hey, why are you keeping her picture?” Otoya asked, inquisitively.

“It’s none of your business, Otoya! Give it to me!” Tokiya shouted while his pale-skinned face turned as red as tomato.

“But..”

If I tell him that Masa asked me to dig his secret, Masa will die for sure. What should I answer him instead?

“No buts! Give it to me!”

 “Why did you stare at your picture and Tomo-chan like that?” As Otoya was too shocked, amazed and confused at the same time, the guitarist did not even care to keep his voice down to save Tokiya’s life.

Tokiya was too embarrassed to answer. If Otoya was smart and sensible enough, he should get the picture by now.

The fact that a boy with no dating experiences suddenly stared and got interested in one particular girl… what else did it mean, though?

That was it. Tokiya’s life was finished. Otoya would know his deepest and the most mortifying secret that he only dared to share with Masato. The scion would never blackmail him but Otoya…

He really hated Otoya to the point of he did not care to learn more about his personality including either Otoya had a tendency to blackmail someone who has been so mean to him all this time or vice versa.

 “The confession just now.. does it mean you love Tomo-chan?”

Bingo!

Tokiya could feel a big ‘Tomo-chan’ word, written in Hiragana style just smashed him right across his face.

“No, I don’t!”

“Then, why are you.. Why are you staring at her picture!? You never glanced at any girls let alone staring at their pictures! Spit it,Tokiya! This is the gold chance for me! I don’t want to let it slide!” Otoya looked eerily happy and it chilled Tokiya to the bone.

 “Yes, I like her. Satisfied!? Now give it to me now and go away!” Tokiya snapped as he knew how stubborn Otoya could be. The more important thing was to get back the picture or else, the possibility that somebody outside the room would eavesdrop and give the game away would be higher.

At this rate, his close relationship with Tomochika would go downhill and the girl would never treat him in the same way again which led to..

THE END of the chronicle of Tokiya’s first love.

“Owh, sure,” as Tokiya snatched the precious picture from him, Otoya just gazed at his brother with an unreadable expression but that alone was enough to make the blue head turned pissed off.

“What’s with the face? Did you enjoy it that much when you knew my secret? Do you want to blackmail me now?” Tokiya asked helplessly.

“No,” the emotionless face suddenly curved in a satisfied grin.

This’s it! This is what Masa wanted me to find! Tokiya loves Tomo-chan! Yeayyy! I will root for this couple for sure! Otoya mentally gave himself a pat on his back.

“Or do you want to laugh at me for being a loser? Then feel free to do so,” Tokiya provoked, much to Otoya’s bewilderment.

“Me? Laugh? Why would I? In fact, I am happy for you because you love her. Tomo-chan is a nice girl anyway so you and she will be a great couple,” Otoya remarked sincerely.

“No, I am not. Masato always said that she is too nice for me,” Tokiya turned sheepish before internally scolding himself to come to his senses. Why did he suddenly feel flattered by Otoya’s compliment?  

“Nope. I think you guys will make a great couple. It’s nice to see you smile at her like that and she also seemed enjoying your company.”

“Do you think so?” Tokiya asked.

“Yes!” Otoya exclaimed. “But why didn’t you confess to her, though? It’s apparently a universal common sense to confess to the girl that you like. Plus, you and her in a good term so why not?”

 “It’s hard..”

“So, there is something that even the perfect Ichinose Tokiya cannot do, huh?” Otoya smirked suggestively.

 “Of course there is! I am not perfect at all but those people keep exaggerating things about me. I still have tons of things that I cannot do, you know?” Tokiya whined like a child, enough to make Otoya chuckled.

“Including how you cannot scoop goldfish to save your life, right?” Otoya puffed out his cheeks to restrain himself from laughing. “I still remember how your face looked like when I could scoop them easily. It seemed like you just had been punched.”

“Yeah, said someone who kept pestering me to bring him to the ghost house because he wanted to see _ōnryo_ but ended up running away for his life. You know.. I can see how those ghosts felt bored because they couldn’t creep me out,” Tokiya narrowed his eyes, playfully insulted Otoya.

They laughed as they continued reminiscing about their childhood and after their mother’s death, that was the first time for Otoya to talk nicely and laugh together with his brother.

It would be good if their conversation remained as nice as this..

“Then, should I help you?” Otoya suddenly asked.

“Hm? Helping me as in..?”

“Tomo-chan and you.. Let me help you, Tokiya. Tomo-chan and I are quite close so I can match her schedule with you so that you guys can meet often.”

“Seriously?” All of sudden, Tokiya could feel a particular guilt that never existed in him stung his chest. All this time, he was pessimistic about Otoya to the point of he was convinced that the red head would blackmail him after learning about his embarrassing secret.

“Yup. If it’s not much trouble for you..” the red head smiled sincerely.

“Thank you, Otoya,” the blue head smiled back, much to Otoya’s ultra happiness.

Thank you, Masa, Otoya mentally thought as he was served with a very charming and sincere smile from Tokiya. It was something that he missed the most from his brother.

“Waaaaaahhhh, Tokiya is smiling at me! I am so happy!!” Otoya could not contain his thrill as he jumped and hugged Tokiya tightly.

“Waaaa, Otoya! Let me go! I can’t breathe!” Tokiya’s face turned red again and that was the first time he could relate to Masato when somebody shamelessly hugged him with excessive affection. No wonder Masato kept running away from him.

“Wait! I just forgot that I have a class!” Otoya shouted in horror before pulling away from Tokiya.

That was the only thing that saved Tokiya from being squeezed by his brother. He collapsed dramatically while happily breathing oxygen.

“I got to go now! See you in dorm, Tokiya! Let’s plan for your confession later! Byeeee!” The red head waved his hand in rush before storming away from the practice room.  

For the rest of the day, even he was scolded and punished by Ringo for being extremely late, it did not stop the red head from grinning like a clown and emitting those imaginary flowers around the school like Tokiya because..

He just gained attention from Tokiya back. His brother aka his family member had acknowledged his presence after cold-shouldering him for years.

He would help Tokiya at any cost. He would make Tokiya feel that he was lucky to have Otoya as his brother.

May his plan to help Tokiya turn successful.

Meanwhile…

“Why this school turned more flowery than usual?” Haruka pointed out when they had a group activity in class.

“Look over there, Haru-chan,” Natsuki patted her shoulder before pointing towards the grinning Otoya who instead of joining the group discussion, he smiled alone at his seat with his hands supported his chin.

“Otoya-kun?”

They did not realize that Masato was clutching his head, internally crying as he scanned those imaginary flowers around him.

“Urgggh! I forgot that they are siblings after all..”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Masato :P Nevertheless, feel free to let me know what do you think about this chapter, okay? Matta neee!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things just got complicated.. Tomochika was desperate to win Otoya's affection and beat Haruka.. But there was Tokiya somewhere...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to Naniwise-san! Thank you for your support all this time :D

DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA.. I just owned the plot of YSDI…

**Again,** it was morning but not typical.

"Kurusu, please say  _'osaki ni itadakimasu’_ before eating."

"Please don't play like that, Shinomiya. Your chopstick is not a drumstick."

"Please don’t blow your nose when you are eating, Aijima."

Those mentioned and selected individuals could not help but being astonished at Masato’s lectures. Not to mention he also smiled a lot as he chewed his food, much to their daze.

His voice sounded creepily soft or to be exact, far from ‘Masato-esque’ tone. Instead of yelling at them, the blue-haired scion even used ‘please’ to add the vibe of politeness. Usually, when those guys did not listen to him, Masato would turn violent which covered pulling ears, hitting hands or smacking them.

"Oi, what's wrong with him?" Feeling unsettled, Syo whispered to Cecil before gaining himself a shrug from the prince.

"He's just happy. Don't bother about it," Ren answered as he took a sip of tea.

The playboy also could not help but being over the moon as well. His life in their room also became as free as a bird because he could play with his darts as much as he could without even bothering with the possibility for the darts to destroy Masato’s belongings. Heck, even one of the darts accidentally attacked Masato’s calligraphy last night, the blue head just smiled like an angel before remarking;

“You don’t need to apologize, Jinguji. Every human being makes humanly mistake..”

Much to the ladies’ man’s relief but also horror.

Yeah, I shouldn’t bother about it. As long as his mood is okay, my life will be as safe as houses, Ren thought.

"But, he said ‘please’ in such a graceful tone. Is that weird?" Syo noted.

"Yeah, he's acting weird because he's happy,  _Ochibi-chan_ ," Ren rolled his eyes, getting annoyed when his uplifted mood was ruined by such an unnecessary question.

This felt like a déjà vu somehow..

"Could it be.. he is happy because of Otoya-kun and Tokiya-kun?" Natsuki asked as he stared at Masato who was biting his melon bread rather in puerile way because he was too delighted.

"Obviously, Shinomi. You know how powerful those two can be when it comes to changing Hijirikawa’s mood right?" Ren glanced at Masato whose cheeks turned round from eating a large amount of bread.

He reminded me of a squirrel that had a lot of acorns in its mouth, though.

* * *

 

**_“Hai,_** Kazuki _ojisan_. They are getting closer now,” Masato reported to Tokiya’s father, Ichinose Kazuki as soon as he could see deep in the practice room, Tokiya was teaching Otoya about vocal control.

 “Otoya is learning vocal control from Tokiya. Yes, your son, Tokiya. Yes, I am 100 percents sure it is Tokiya, _ojisan._ Eh, what do you mean he is crazy? No, no. Tokiya is perfectly healthy. Ehh, you are asking about how did they get chummy like that? Well, you see… Otoya just knew that Tokiya likes a girl in our class so after Otoya offered to help Tokiya, they became close. Yes, yes, me too. Okay, you are welcome, _ojisan._ _Hai,_ _matta ne_ ,” Masato switched off his phone before sighing heavily.

Heck, even their father could not believe it. He even called his own son crazy, Masato mentally remarked but quickly peeking at those siblings who were in their own world, striving together to improve their skills.

Well done, Otoya, Masato mentally congratulated the said boy. To see them spending their time more often nowadays, as their friend, Masato recalled how sweet their childhood memories were.

Everybody including STARISH might say that he was an idiot who got too attached to those siblings but those everybody did not know how precious they were in his life. Ten years ago, when he was pressured to be the epitome of Hijirikawa family, Tokiya came to his life, being the brother figure for him. Followed by Otoya, they always invited him to their house, which according to his eyes, is a paradise with a heart-warming family. Being friendly and generous he was, Tokiya had always being the one who entertained both Otoya and Masato with his self-innovated games.

So, just like their father, it broke Masato’s heart when Tokiya bluntly said that he would never forgive Otoya for being the reason of Suzuna’s death. He hated to see how insulting Tokiya looked at Otoya. He hated to see how despondent Otoya looked every time Tokiya brushed him off and…

He hated to learn that after such a long time, he was the one who knew Otoya more than Tokiya, his own brother. The loving and warm side of Tokiya just vanished the moment his mind set Otoya as the curse of Ichinose family.

So, as their friend, he would do whatever it takes to strengthen their relationship again.

* * *

 

**Haruka** was supposed to discuss with Masato, Cecil and Natsuki about their latest assignment when Tomochika suddenly dragged the composer to their seats. As petty as she was, Tomochika hated it when those guys clearly showed their interest to the composer. What she hated the most was the fact that Haruka was stupidly oblivious of their feelings towards her.

 “Eh? Boyfriend? I never thought about it, Tomo-chan. They are friends that I love so much and I am happy with them,” Haruka answered as Tomochika randomly asked her about starting a relationship with any of the STARISH members.

‘I don’t give a damn with your stupid love to your friends’ is what Tomochika really wanted to say. Feeling dissatisfied with such a generic answer, she asked again.

“Then, if you really have to choose someone to be your boyfriend, who will be?”

“If I have to choose? I don’t know. All I can think about is music, Tomo-chan. I enjoyed writing songs for you guys. I really want to create more beautiful melodies so I never thought about getting into relationship with anyone.”

The sincere but somewhat cringeworthy answer almost gained herself a slap from Tomochika.

Hahahhahahaahhahahaa. ‘All I can think about is music’, my foot! For God sake, why don’t you just spit it out, you bitch? Like that isn’t obvious enough. 

“Then, do you realize that all of them like you?”

Well, except Tokiya-kun and Otoya-kun because they love me! You lost because I have the most popular student and YOUR crush in my net!

“Ehh? Seriously? I don’t realize that!”

Yeah, sure you don’t. My suggestion is.. Why don’t you go and fix your bug eyes for once!?

Shibuya Tomochika was a vixen with Haruka complex.

She viewed Haruka as her rival and enemy so whatever the innocent composer did, even it obviously did not mean any harm, Tomochika viewed it as a threat to the world. She despised it when Haruka acted dense whenever STARISH members flirted with her. She despised it when Haruka just focused on her study.

Instead, Tomochika wanted Haruka to ramble on about how hot she was since STARISH members love her. She wanted Haruka to be sluttish with all STARISH members.

“Then, what happened if Otoya-kun asks you out?”

“Eh? Otoya-kun?” Haruka’s composure suddenly being threw to the window. Her golden orbs sized up in horror. “I… I don’t know, Tomo-chan. He’s just my friend. There is no way he will ask me out.”

This bitch loves him. Totally saw that coming, it took all for Tomochika to maintain her cheeky expression when in fact, she really wanted to clobber Haruka for being that innocent about love. This girl loves Otoya and everybody can see that. Why it was so hard for her to admit? Why she always acted innocent as if he was so retarded?’

“Plus, Tomo-chan, Otoya-kun does not seem like he will ask me out. He is so busy practicing his singing with Ichinose-san.”

“Yeah, that make senses,” Tomochika rubbed her chin. “But nowadays, he always asked me about my dating experiences. How about you, Haruka? Did he ask you anything?”

“Eh? My dating experiences? No, he didn’t.”

Then, he did not have any interest in you. As simple as that, Tomochika smirked. She observed the red head for such a long time. At first, she had this hunch whereby Otoya might like Haruka. He always looked enjoyed spending time with the rosette.

But as time goes by, Tomochika felt less convinced. Otoya looked more interested in his brother and when the red head suddenly asked her about her dating experiences, she was positive that Otoya had a huge crush on her instead.  

 “ _Ne,_ Tomo-chan..” the said red head suddenly appeared in front of them after coming back from S Class.

Speak of the devil.

“Yes, Otoya-kun?”

“Can I ask something real fast?”

“Yeah.. sure..” it took all for Tomochika to not suddenly pinch Otoya’s cheek for being so cute with the ecstatic expression.

“Have a guy ever confessed to you before?” Otoya asked with such an interest in his ruby eyes, much to the girls’ puzzlement.

“Em..Yes, they have. Why, Otoya-kun?”

Of course a hot girl like me would get a lot of confession. How come you do not notice that? But.. At least you still sounded cute instead of dumb, Otoya-kun, the goddess of the school restrained herself from blushing. Otoya’s face was way too close as he lowered his head to meet her eyes so she needed to be as composed as possible.

“Did they give a ring, rose or something? Which one do you prefer? Rose? Ring? Or just a simple confession will do? Please tell me, Tomo-chan,” totally ignoring the quizzical looks from those girls, the red head kept bombarding the said girl with questions.  

Nobody knew how like Tokiya and Otoya, Tomochika also wanted to produce her own imaginary flowers around her for being elated.

She was elated because she was positive that Otoya liked her. That was how critical her ‘full of herself’ personality trait could be.

If it’s from you, I want everything! I want just everything including you, Otoya-kun. But of course I cannot say something like that. I need to have more pride and play a little bit hard to get, Tomochika mentally remarked. She glanced at Haruka who most probably did not find any solid reason to interrupt their conversation.

Good, Haruka. Just keep with that attitude. You should know that Otoya-kun is a man like others. He absolutely will get interested in a goddess like me. Not win an ugly butt like you, Haruka!

“To be honest, I never thought about that, Otoya-kun. All I want is just a simple but sweet confession from someone who truly loves me.”

Yeah, _‘too be honest’_.

“Oh..It’s easy, then,” Otoya muttered excitedly while sizing his eyes up.

I am sure Tokiya can do it. He truly loves her after all.

“Did you say something, Otoya-kun?”

“Nah, nothing,” he smiled adorably.

“Seriously, nowadays, why did you keep asking about those things, though? Not to mention, you asked that only from _me_ ,” Tomochika gave a glance at Haruka before finding herself enjoyed the composer’s expression once she mentioned ‘me’.

Come on, Otoya-kun! Just spit it out here. I really want to see how this bitch will turn uglier when you say you like me.

“It’s really nothing… Really..” Otoya answered sheepishly. Apparently, it was his fault. He should not be that obvious. But, the excitement to help Tokiya just got the best of him. “Em.. excuse me, then. Sorry for bothering you guys,” he headed towards Masato who was playing a piano at the back.

Owhh, what a waste! Maybe he is too shy to let others know about his feeling to me. It’s okay. He will confess anyway, Tomochika smiled with the thought of Otoya would confess to her.

“Hm.. Don’t you think it’s weird, Haruka?” her face contorted with a so-called bemuse. “He kept asking me the same kind of questions.”

“Yeah, you are right, Tomo-chan,” Haruka gave a small smile. Her calm response did not gratify the long-haired girl at all.

Tomochika wanted more! She really wanted to see Haruka got frustrated until she cried!

“I wonder why he did that, though…” Tomochika rubbed her chin, glancing at Haruka who obviously tried hard to conceal her dejection. “All his questions were about something romantic. He asked me about ring, confession and stuff. What do you think about it, Haruka? Do you have any idea?”

“Eh? Me? Well…” Of course a girl with no dating experiences like Haruka could not really guess what Otoya was thinking and planning but since Tomochika sought her suggestion, the composer might as well try to answer her.

Without being aware that the so-called best friend of her was taking the mickey out of her.

“Since he asked you about ring, confession.. Maybe he likes you, Tomo-chan..”

Well done, Haruka! You are not as dumb as you looked.

“Ehhh? Really?” Tomochika dramatically gasped, pretending to be surprised at Haruka’s guess. “Oh my.. Haruka, stop flattering me, won’t you? I mean.. Otoya-kun is a really nice guy. So, he deserves a nice girl. Anyone but me.”

“Why not? It’s possible, though…” Haruka smiled, convincing the future idol. “You are beautiful and kind, Tomo-chan.”

Yeahhhh, you are absolutely right! I am beautiful and kind. So, you, the ugly butt should get the hell out of my sight and let me have Otoya-kun by myself!

“Well, if you say so, I must say I feel honoured. Maybe I will consider and accept him…”

“Really, Tomo-chan?” Haruka could not help but sizing her golden orbs up.

That was the most priceless expression that Tomochika had ever seen and enjoyed from the composer.

“If only it’s true, Haruka. I don’t think it’s possible, though.”

As if! From now on, you will learn that even those boys literally threw themselves at you, you still cannot beat me, Haruka. Why? Because the one that you cannot take your eyes off is in love with me. Not you!

* * *

 

**Apparently,** the good relationship of Ichinose siblings did not only affect Masato’s happiness, Tomochika’s mood and Haruka’s feeling but also the school as a whole.

If Tokiya always offered Otoya useful advice regarding to singing and acting, Otoya tended to make Tokiya less uptight and comfortable to be himself. He even taught Tokiya about how to give comical reaction in variety show. For Otoya, even Tokiya is an all-rounder but he is not your typical Prince Charming who acts cool and charismatic all the time. Instead, Otoya knew that Tokiya also can be silly and hilarious sometimes.

Which led Shining Saotome to summon both of them to his office.

“Mr.Ichinose, I believe that you are supposed to be a perfect idol, right?” his glasses sparkled, emphasizing his intimidating and threatening aura.  

“Yes, that’s how I always behave…” Tokiya answered reluctantly since he himself knew more than anyone how ‘imperfect’ he behaved nowadays.

“But to me, you don’t act like one!” Saotome suddenly sounded like a creepy mafia leader, much to the siblings’ terror. “In fact, you played around with your brother. You made jokes and you learned how to be a variety idol. I will not allow such imperfection to happen! You are supposed to act perfectly.”

The claim just made Otoya pulling a ‘what the heck’ face. Just what was wrong with learning how to be a good variety idol? Obviously, Tokiya was learning other skill so that he could market himself more.  

“Seriously, just what that perfect idol image is supposed to be?” Otoya who could not conceal his annoyance bluntly asked. “What is a perfect idol according to you, principal? I think the others also need to know the definition from your mouth.”

“Otoya..” Tokiya muttered anxiously, warning the red head to not provoke the legendary singer but to no avail. Instead, Otoya looked like someone who already had his bullets ready, prepared to shoot their principal.

“Excuse me, Mr. Ichinose? Are you questioning my rule, now?” Saotome indirectly gave the red head a chance to change his mind about being blunt and rude but the red head totally shrugged it aside.

“Yes. I am questioning the ‘perfect’ term according to your dictionary because I believe, in this vast world, when everybody normally have different opinion in every single topic that we can come up, those everybody will agree with the fact that ‘perfect’ means flawless, having everything that is necessary.”

“Yes and that’s why he doesn’t need to be funny. Being funny is not necessary,” Saotome sneered.

“But according to a research, women loves funny guys and I believe charming female fans is one of your objectives once you created a perfect idol image for Tokiya..” Otoya retorted. “As someone who grew up with Tokiya, I can tell that he is an outgoing and cheerful person. But because of your unnecessary image, he has to restrain himself from throwing a funny remark when S Class have a variety show practice. It’s such a pain to see him like that. Trust me, principal, the image of a talented and funny guy is much more appealing and our Tokiya can be himself as well.”

Which eventually and surprisingly convinced Shining Saotome.

“If that’s the case, can you tell me why are you so happy nowadays, Mr. Ichinose? You keep emitting those weird flowers so I am afraid I have to know about it.”

“Because he was in love, principal,” Otoya spontaneously spilled the beans before gaining himself a jab in his stomach from the panicky Tokiya.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Ah, I mean… Tokiya is happy because his singing got improved when he practiced with Shibuya Tomochika,” Otoya remarked.

Yeah, that sounded more understandable, Tokiya sighed in relief even most of the time, he was the one who helped Tomochika to improve her singing.

 “So, you, Mr.Ichinose has practiced singing with Miss Shibuya?” Saotome gave out an unreadable expression.

“Ye..yes,” Tokiya swallowed an invisible lump in his throat. He was sure that he did not commit any crime but seeing how intense Saotome’s stare was, he could not help but feeling like a criminal who just assaulted somebody’s daughter. “Why? Is that wrong?”

“What do you think about her as your partner? Do you guys sound harmonious when you sing together? Do you think that she is a great partner?” with the way Saotome made himself sounded like a policeman who interrogated a serial killer, no wonder he crept Tokiya out.

“Well..”

To be honest, rather than to be concerned about how harmonious or bad they sounded together, Tokiya had a hard time to restrain himself from staring at Tomochika. The closer she was with him, the more beautiful she looked and…

The faster his heart would thump.

“To my mind, her sweet singing voice blends well with my tenor voice. She also has a very great teamwork.”

Hearing the simple answer, Saotome just nodded while rubbing his chin. He continued with the gesture before making an eye contact with Tokiya.

“Mr. Ichinose.”

“Yes?”

“Other than agreeing with your brother about you being a good variety idol, I also can see how great your collaboration with Miss Shibuya can be in future.”

“Eh?”

* * *

 

**“Thank** you so much, Otoya! This is too good to be true,” Tokiya exclaimed as he walked in slow motion with Otoya who followed his pace after they managed to get out from the menacing office.

“I know right? It feels refreshing to be ourselves.”

Those two continued to walk in slow motion while emitting more imaginary flowers around them. Heck, other students did not even bother to put a ‘what-the-heck’ face anymore. Instead, they strangely grew accustomed to the flowers.

“And congratulations on your glorious debut soon, Tokiya.”

“Hm? What do you mean?” Tokiya asked as they stopped walking their way to their classes.

“I know this school only supports a solo artist but what will you do if the principal ends up making you debut with Tomo-chan as a duo artist?”

Otoya’s guess was enough to make Tokiya blushed.

“Woooo, Tokiya is blushing! What an eyesore!” Otoya closed his mouth dramatically, much to Tokiya’s irritation.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!?”

“No wonder Masa said that you are disgusting when you blush! Hahahahahaa.. He is so true!”

“Wait, Masato said that to you!? How mean!”

* * *

 

**A** few days later, Tokiya was surprised to find himself in Saotome’s office again. The only different thing was he was with a different person.

 “Do you guys still want to practice together after this, Mr. Ichinose, Miss Shibuya?” Saotome eyed each of his students.

Are we still talking about this again? Tokiya was in disbelief. If it is such a sin for me to sing together with Shibuya-san, he might as well say it now!

“Yeah, if we are free enough,” they answered, almost in unison.

“Hm..” Saotome stood from his chair as he was seemingly deep in thought. He wandered around his chair before…

“MARVELLOUS!!” He exclaimed, almost sending Tokiya and Tomochika hugged each other out of surprise. “This is why I expect nothing less from you, Mr. Ichinose, Miss Shibuya. Your voices, your duet, are sooooo fascinating! I watched all your practices and I must say, you guys are such a match from heaven!!”

“Ohh, thank you,” while Tokiya was concealing his blush, no soul noticed that Tomochika was fighting with something burning internally.

Why do I have a bad feeling about this? Why do I think that something big will happen? Could it be…

“I am totally impressed with your teamwork and chemistry. You guys helped each other and that was the fundamental of being a duo. So, after a longgggg meeting with other teachers, we have decided to….” Saotome raised up an eyebrow, having fun in teasing the couple.

“You guys have decided to…?” Tomochika and Tokiya repeated.

“Let you guys to debut together as a duo!!”

“What!?”

* * *

 

**“Woahh!** Like seriously, Tokiya!? _Omedettou! Omedettou!”_

Those STARISH members congratulated on the unexpected debut when they hanged out together in a training room as soon as they learned about the news and the fact that Tokiya agreed with the duo idea.  

And of course Otoya would be the most excited. He totally rooted for the couple, though.

“So a duo is possible, huh? I thought that this school only allows a solo debut,” Syo remarked as he was playing with his fedora.

“Since we are talking about Icchi and Tomo-chan, anything can be possible for these two,” Ren supplied. “But, nevertheless, congratulations again, Icchi. You guys will be a splendid duo for sure,” Ren offered his big hand to Tokiya which the blue head accepted it gladly before shaking it.

“Thank you, Ren.”

“Had I known it earlier, I will request to debut as duo with Syo-chan,” Natsuki exclaimed, excitedly.

“Why should I debut with you, you idiot!? I don’t want to die early!” Syo yelled. Being the childhood friend and roommate of Natsuki were terrifying enough for the small boy.

In the midst of the congratulatory atmosphere, except Tokiya and Otoya, everybody had this one thought in their minds.

‘It will be better if Nanami/Haruka/Little Lamb is taking an idol course. I will have the chance to debut with her as a duo like those two.’

“ _Ne,_ Masa..” Tokiya whispered as he took a seat next to the blue head.

“What?”

“Did you just think that it might be good if you can debut with Nanami-san?” Tokiya curved in a mischievous grin.

“Shut up,” Masato rolled his eyes. In this kind of moment, he really wished that Tokiya would lose his ability to read his mind like an open book.  

Well, at least he is happy.

* * *

 

**A** few days passed and everybody could see that Tomochika had become severely moody.

Much to everyone’s fright, her eyes shot laser especially when somebody congratulated her to be the lucky person to debut as duo with Tokiya.

A debut with Tokiya? What the _fish_? That was the worst joke that she had ever encountered.

She did not sing with him just for the sake of killing time. She sang with him because she wanted to improve so that at the end of the day, she could beat him.

But now, her plan most probably would result in her being the flower who would beautify a prince like Tokiya if they proceeded with the debut. For sure, after their debut, everybody would swoon over him. Everybody would praise him like a God.

No, she did not want that!

As much as she hated it, she did admit that Tokiya is far more talented than her in any shape and form. She felt that Tokiya is such a dangerous guy that she should avoid at any cost since he was the strongest candidate to win the graduation audition.

But ironically enough, the guy who would defeat her without even lifting a finger was one of her fans and she learned that since the day she could remember.

Tokiya  loved her.

And how did she know that? Well, having countless fans, adding to the fact that she was narcissistic herself, she could easily guess that Tokiya loved her.

Which she realized that God still blessed her with the fact that those Ichinose siblings loved her and one of them happened to be one of  her most despicable enemies which she really wanted to get rid of besides Haruka.

The question was, were they going to fight over her? As much as she did not like Tokiya even for the slightest bit, it was the dream of every girl to be the girl that those hot guys fought over.

So, what should she do next? Tomochika found herself in toilet, trying to clear her mind as the cold water hit her flawless face.

After lazing around in her room on weekend, she had made a decision.

Obviously, she would make Otoya hers, dump and get rid of Tokiya so that she could win the graduation audition. Even it may result in destruction for the siblings’ relationship, she did not care.

It was not her problem after all.

* * *

 

**On** the next day…

As Tokiya reached the rooftop, he was served with the sight of Tomochika, the girl that he was supposed to confess his love to was kissing Otoya’s cheek. They stayed in that position for God-knew-how-long, much to Tokiya’s dismay.

It savagely destroyed Tokiya’s heart.

Just.. what happened here, Otoya?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wohoooo, that's all for Chapter 5! Unexpectedly, I had fun when I wrote about Tomochika. The idea of making her such a vixen hit me when I observed her in anime. I thought, 'what happen if Tomochika loves one of the guys but is overshadowed by Haruka who constantly have her harem swooning over her?', 'what happen if Tomochika is jealous with Haruka?' It bothered me quite a bit when in episode 1, when she introduced herself to Otoya, the red head just ignored her. A girl like Tomochika is vivacious and I believe she is an interesting character if we learn more about her. So, matta ne! Feel free to tell me what do you think about this chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final straw...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comment, Naniwise-san! and also the guest who left Kudos, thank you very much!

DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA. I do own the plot.

**As** Tokiya reached the rooftop, he was served with the sight of Tomochika, the girl that he was supposed to confess his love to, kissing Otoya’s cheek. They stayed in that position for God-knew-how-long, much to Tokiya’s dismay.

It savagely destroyed Tokiya’s heart.

Just… What happened here, Otoya?

* * *

 

**About** 15 minutes ago…

_‘Okay, Tokiya. This is the plan.*got excited by myself while jumping around_

_*_

_*_

_*_

_*_

_*_

_I will ask her to come with me to the rooftop and then I will call you and you will come here to confess! Good luck! You better be prepared now, oni-chan!’_

“What? That’s it? I thought that it will be much more romantic,” Tokiya complained as he read the message from Otoya. He was currently in A Class, waiting for Otoya’s cue while sitting comfortably beside Masato since he was about to encounter a nerve-wracking situation that might change his life for good.

“What do you mean?” Masato read the said message before putting on a poker face. “Well, what can you expect from Otoya? He is also an ignoramus like you when it comes to this kind of stuff. Of course his creativity is not big enough. He said he wanted to plan everything because he is just excited to lend you a hand.”

“I see. We are the ignoramus brothers. At least we are not a one-trick pony like you, Masato. Always try to win her heart by playing piano…”

“Are you really desperate to die, Tokiya? I don’t know but I got curious about that all of sudden,” Masato let out a menacing aura as he slammed his book on the table but it did not intimidate the other blue head for the slightest bit. “I will kill you right after you confess to her so that you can be like those spirits who become obsessive with the girl they love.”

“Huh, as if! Instead of her, I will use my ghostly power to summon all kind of insects to bite you,” Tokiya replied childishly.

“So immature,” Masato rolled his eyes. “But, honestly, do you really hope that Shibuya will date you?”

“Of course. That’s why I want to confess to her.”

Then, you are lucky, Shibuya, Masato mentally commented. Even he spent most of his time with talking bad about Tokiya when the blue head was around, he could imagine how the guy would treat his girlfriend. He had never fallen in love before he met Tomochika so he would treasure her like his everything.  

“But…What if she rejects you?”

“It doesn’t matter. At least, I will feel more comfortable if I confess to her. We will debut together so if I feel something tingling every time I am with her, it will make me lose concentration to my work. Who knows… After she rejected me, I will forget her fast,” much to Masato’s shock, Tokiya sounded charismatic now after acting like a child who got his first lollipop for ten days straight.

Woahh, he is surprisingly mature today, Masato internally commented as he stared at Tokiya in awe.

“What’s with that look? I bet you want to say that I am surprisingly mature and Shibuya-san will be lucky to have me as her boyfriend, right, right?” Tokiya smirked as he turned cocky all of sudden.

Seriously, how can a person be this spiteful!? Masato’s jaws dropped as he heard Tokiya’s remarks. This is what you get when you are with someone who knows you, enough from your eyes. You cannot secretly feel amazed at him without feeling annoyed with his cocky attitude afterward.

Masato just deadpanned as he touched Tokiya’s forehead. “No. Instead, I was wondering if you have a fever.”

“Oi, guys,” Cecil who came out nowhere interrupted their pointless conversation. “I hate to say this but if you guys don’t want those fan girls to pair you up again in their fanfiction, you better stop being affectionate to each other,” Cecil signaled to a group of girls who smiled sheepishly at Tokiya and Masato. Obviously, they enjoyed themselves to see those blue heads sat close to each other like that.

“Oh, my… I forgot about that,” Masato turned panicky as he quickly moved backward from the ‘do-I-care?’ - faced Tokiya.

“Did you just call this ‘affectionate’?” Tokiya put Masato’s hand on his forehead. “We used to hug a lot when we were small, you know? Even now, I will hug him whenever I am happy because he is so fluffy to be hugged,” Tokiya could hear those girls squeaked as they heard his remarks but he did not care about it. They could think whatever they wanted but he was really comfortable to have Masato around. That guy is his childhood friend, for heaven’s sake! Why could not boys act friendly to each other without being assumed as a homosexual?

 “Stop adding an unnecessary comment, Tokiya!” Unlike Tokiya, Masato looked horrified.

“Plus, Masato is a very nice boy. If he is a girl, I will date him as soon as I see him. He can cook, very caring, loving…”

“I said, stop making things sound more suspicious, Tokiya!” Masato yelled desperately.  

“For a popular student, you guys can be disgusting sometimes,” Cecil sneered. “By the way, did you guys see Otoya and Tomochika?”

“No,” the blue heads shook their heads in unison.

Cecil deadpanned. “This is why those girls shipped you guys together.”

“Shut up, Aijima!” Masato’s dramatic and high-pitched scream just shook everything in the class.

* * *

 

**There** he was, the boy of her dream. This time, she would never let him go. She would make sure that Ichinose Otoya would be his.

It was now or never.

That was what Tomochika thought the moment Otoya called her about 20 minutes ago, asking her to meet him in front of a recording room.

“Am I late?” Otoya looked slightly panicky as he approached the girl.

“No, you are not. I am the one who came here earlier because I am so excited.”

“Ohh...” Otoya could not help but wonder why would Tomochika become this excited to see him aka her classmate. “Then, can we go to the rooftop now?”

“Rooftop? Why?” Tomochika’s eyes sized up as something clichéd from a shoujo anime crossed her mind. “If I am not mistaken, we are not allowed to go there right now, right?”

In anime, they always confess their love on rooftop, right?

“Nope, it’s just a fake announcement. I deliberately made it for you,” Otoya stated casually as he grinned cheekily.

What?? For… For me?? OMG!!!!! The idol almost fainted as she was relishing her colorful imagination about what would Otoya plan for her.

“Oh, really?” Tomochika replied calmly as she restrained herself from making herself looked desperate. She should have more pride since she is Shibuya Tomochika, the Goddess of Saotome Academy. Not some chicks who got excited just because a hot guy was going to ask her out.

Tomochika glanced at Otoya as they walked together. The red head also had a smile on his face. As she slowly tried to grab Otoya’s hand, the red head suddenly lifted his before reaching inside his pocket for his smartphone. He sent Tokiya a text message. 

_‘Hey, we are here. You can come already.’_

The red head looked around before smiling in satisfaction. Apparently, with the ‘No Entry’ signboard, there were no students were as obstinate as mule to ignore it.  

As soon as they reached the rooftop, Otoya did not waste any time to tell Tomochika about why the hell were they here when suddenly…

“To tell you the truth..”

“To tell you the truth..”

They startled. Obviously, they both were so impatient to say what had been lingered in their mind as soon as possible.

“Well, you first,” Tomochika tried to be considerate.

“No, it’s okay. Ladies first,” without having the slightest idea about what made Tomochika obviously excited when in fact, he was the one who prepared a surprise for her, Otoya decided to let it slide and let her started first.

“Okay, then,” Tomochika started to fidget. Instead of typically feeling that her pride would shatter to confess her love first, she felt like a princess who would never be rejected by her Prince Charming.

She even forgot that a minute ago, she was the one who said that a goddess like her should have more pride.

“I know this is sudden but I really want you to know about my feeling, Otoya-kun. What do I feel about you all this time.”

“Eh, me?” Otoya could not help but exclaim in confusion as he had no idea about what would be the important thing that Tomochika really wanted him to know.

The hero of this scene is supposed to be Tokiya, right? Not me.

“Yes, you, Otoya-kun,” for some reasons, the atmosphere around the empty and boring rooftop turned romantic.

Eh, romantic?

“Otoya-kun,” Tomochika’s normally bubbly voice turned a bit provocative all of sudden and it startled him.

And it completely made him dumbfounded as she let out her next set of words.

“The truth is… I love you. I love you since the first time I met you.”

It was so shocking to the point of Otoya’s brain had such a hard time to digest the ‘I love you’ truth.

“What?”

She… She just said ‘I love you’ right? The ‘you’ in the context was ... him, right? Ichinose Otoya.

He was here to let her know that his brother, Ichinose Tokiya had fallen in love with her and wanted to ask her out.

Not he was the one who would be asked to go out with Tomochika.

What should he do now?

“I really love you, Otoya-kun,” Tomochika reached up before kissing his cheek.

Putting more drama aka trouble, at the same time, Tokiya just arrived, staring at the sight (and would probably the one that he would never forget for the rest of his life) of Tomochika, his dream girl, kissed his brother’s cheek.

Tomochika was kissing Otoya’s cheek.

It savagely destroyed Tokiya’s heart.

Why… Why would she do that? Does she… Does the kiss mean…

Judging from how Otoya sized his eyes up, most probably he did not expect it. Maybe he was too shocked to give any sort of reaction, Tokiya tried to justify this scandalous situation even he could feel his blood boiled with rage.

He stood there, waiting for Otoya’s reaction in silence.

As Tomochika pulled away, Tokiya could see how happy she was.

Obviously, the girl loves his brother.

Tomochika observed Otoya’s face. The color matched his red hair.

Yeah, he totally fell for this kiss. Haruka, I won!

The ruby eyes still stared at Tomochika in disbelief. He found it to be awkward and unbelievable to receive such an affectionate body contact from his friend.

Not to mention it was the first one ever in his life!

“Well, what’s your answer, Otoya-kun? Can you love me back?”

She confessed to him. Tokiya was sure about that. She used ‘love’ instead of ‘like’ so there was apparently no reason for Tokiya to brainwash himself to be optimistic right now. Yes, he was sad because the girl loved his brother instead but it could not be helped.

But of course Otoya will reject her, right? Otoya does not have any interest in her. Otoya is a good brother. He will never mess me around if he…

“I love you, Tomo-chan...”

There he was. A line that would change the dynamic of their relationship.

What, Otoya? You... YOU love her too? Then, why did you help me? Why did you call me here?

The blue head could not stand this anymore. Obviously, they would go out as they ‘loved’ each other so why would he, the one who did not have anybody to love poked his nose into their sweet moment? He, being the one and ‘lucky’ audience could surely guess the ending for the lovebirds.

It. Was. A. Happy. Ending.

He should go away before he unconsciously punched Otoya.

Otoya just added more reasons for him to hate the red head.

There was no way for them to reconcile and that was the ending for both of them.

Meanwhile…

“But as a friend. I love you just like how I love STARISH. You are such a precious friend so I never think of you that way. I am so sorry, Tomo-chan. Please don’t hate me.”

Shibuya Tomochika was rejected by Ichinose Otoya but Ichinose Tokiya left the scene too soon to watch the plot twist. There was no such thing as ‘lovebirds’ here. 

“Why? Why wouldn’t you? Am I not that perfect for you, Otoya-kun?” Tomochika asked in disbelief. All this time she was positive that he also loved her so it did not matter for her to confess to him first.

Tears streamed down her face, much to Otoya’s shock. He never thought that his rejection would cause him to see the out of character version of Tomochika.

“That’s not what I meant, Tomo-chan,” the guitarist held her shoulder, trying to comfort her. “Of course you are perfect and I couldn’t ask for a better girl but… like I said, I love you just like how I love STARISH. You guys are my family, my friends so there is no way I can accept your feeling. Plus, like Masa said, I am oblivious about love and such. There are so many things I need to learn so I don’t think you will be happy with me.”

Otoya’s justification just fell on deaf ears. Tomochika stared down to the floor, refused to meet eyes with Otoya. She felt miserable because not only she was rejected by someone that she only had eyes for when she clearly could make anybody to fall in love with her, her body also boiled with rage as she thought about someone that most probably would be the reason for her to cry today.  

“I am sorry, okay, Tomo-chan? Please don’t be like this,” Otoya pleaded. He never wanted to hurt his friend’s feeling but there was no reason for him to lie to her either. It was better to be honest in this kind of situation.

All of sudden, Tomochika laughed creepily. It sounded obviously in rage and she might turn crazy in any second.

“You love me just how you love STARISH,” there was a hint of sarcasm in her quivering voice. “But you never mentioned about that bitch.”

“Excuse me?” Otoya did not like how she sounded. It was harsh and he did not like how almost everybody in this world would simply call a girl a bitch.

“That bitch,” Otoya closed his eyes as Tomochika still labeled whoever it was with such an offensive name.

 “I believe whoever she is, she has a proper name, Tomo-chan,” Otoya indirectly asked her to be polite with her choice of words.

“I am talking about that frigging Haruka!” She screamed way too loud as she finally exploded.

“What?”

“What about her!? Do you love her in THAT way!?” Tomochika’s face turned so red as she impatiently sought for Otoya’s answer.

“Wait? Why did it come up to this? Why should you relate her to this situation? She is your best friend, Tomo-chan. How could you call her that?”

“I am not her best friend and yeah, she IS related to this, Otoya-kun! She is the reason why you rejected me, right? You love her. Just like those frigging friends of yours! You all swoon over her like frigging flies!”

“Tomo-chan, please don’t say something like that about my friends,” Otoya tried to comfort her even he could feel that he was this close to lose his patience. “Nanami doesn’t have anything to do with this. Instead, another reason why I rejected you because of Tokiya… He wanted to see you. I asked you to come up here because he wanted to confess to you.”

Come to think of it, where is Tokiya? Why is he not here, yet? The red head’s heart thumped faster as he somehow had a bad feeling about his brother.

“Confess about what? Why should I be bothered about him?”

“He is the one who is in love with you so I think you should hear him out…”

“I don’t give a shit about the goddamn loser!” Tomochika shouted again.

“Tomo-chan, please don’t insult my brother,” Otoya tried to calm himself down. This time, this girl was too much with her expletives and if he was ill-tempered enough, he would have slapped her.

“You love Haruka, right!? Answer me, Otoya-kun! The reason why you rejected me because you love that bitch, right!!?”

What the… Otoya stared at Tomochika in disbelief. Why did this girl keep mentioning about Haruka? Not to mention she was insulting her best friend. All this time, he really thought that they were so chummy to each other.

He never thought that Tomochika could be this mean to Haruka.

“The question is why should you relate this situation to her? She doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

“Yes, she does because that ugly butt is also in love with you! How come you don’t realize that, Otoya-kun!!? How stupid can you be!?”

Yes, he was considered himself as so stupid because he never realized that Haruka loves him.

“What? She is in love with me?”

 “Yes, that frigging bitch! But I tell you what, if you rejected me because of her, I will never let it slide. Never! I will make you love me, Otoya-kun. Even it means that I have to get rid of Haruka! I swear!” she abruptly left the speechless Otoya.

How did it turn out into something like this? Their friendship… It was so good before. Why would Tomochika want to destroy it just because of him?

* * *

 

**After** school session ended, Otoya called Tokiya for the nth time but to no avail.

This felt weird. Where did he go?

It turned out even weirder when until night, Tokiya was still nowhere to be seen. He did not even come back to the dorm.

“Is Masa here?” Otoya asked as soon as Ren opened his room’s door.

“Nope. I have never seen Hijirikawa since lunch hour. I was going to ask Icchi about him, though.”

“But, Tokiya doesn’t come back as well. I was going to ask Masa about him,” Otoya replied in dejection.

“Then, maybe we should not worry about that too much. Maybe they have something to do together?” Unlike Ren who was in relief, Otoya was the total opposite.

Especially since Tomochika’s tragic and dramatic confession, he could not reach Tokiya at all.

“Oiii, you guys!” Syo greeted while he and Natsuki were walking along the corridor.

“Syo, Natsuki, did you guys see Tokiya or Masa?” Otoya asked, anxiously.

“Oh… We just saw them by the lake,” Syo replied.

“They looked like.. I don’t know. Discussing something?” Natsuki added.

By the lake? Otoya’s heart thumped so fast that it might explode. If Tokiya and Masato talked about something in other places than their dorms, could it be about something serious?

But… What was that?

“Thank you, guys,” the red head ran so fast, leaving the confused three behind.

“Why did he look so anxious, though? Something happened?” Ren pointed out.

“Beats me… But Tokiya looks like he might kill someone tonight. He looks so scary,” Syo shivered at the thought of Tokiya’s face just now.

“Yeah. Masato-kun even shooed us away when we tried to join them,” Natsuki explained.

Their answers sent the ladies’ man to frown. Just what the hell?

* * *

 

**“Just** calm the hell down, won’t you? You will not solve anything if you behave like this, Tokiya,” as Otoya arrived by the lake, he could see that Masato was rubbing Tokiya’s back, anxiously comforting the blue head.

“Masa,Tokiya,” as soon as Otoya called their names, he could see that Masato flinched before nervously shifting his gaze to the siblings while Tokiya...

It seemed like he avoided to meet eyes with the red head because he hated him.

“Otoya,” it looked like Masato never wanted him here and it would hint one thing.

Something bad would happen.

“Masa, what happened?” As Otoya approached them, Masato quickly stood from his spot before holding his shoulders.

“Otoya, I think it will be better if you go back to your room, okay? We will talk with you later,” Masato’s baritone voice did not sound comical as usual. Instead, he really meant with what he said.

“But, Masa, I want to see Tokiya...”

“No, please, Otoya! Not now. Please listen to me…” Masato was literally pleading him now and Otoya did not like where this was going to.

“Just why do you want to show your face right now?” Tokiya remarked as he stood up and faced Otoya. The guitarist gasped in shock because...

The face that smiled at him up until recently looked utterly menacing. This look was not the typically annoyed one every time Otoya pulled a prank on him. This was…

Sinister. Like Tokiya would kill him in any second. 

“Tokiya, please calm down, won’t you? Otoya, just go back to your room. It’s not safe for you..”

“Why do you want to shoo him away, Masato? Let him be here. I will let him know what I feel right now so that he will not badger me around after this.”

“What… What do you mean? _Ne,_ Masa. Why does he look so scary?” Words could not describe how scared Otoya felt right now. Hurting Tokiya was the last thing that he wanted to do but seeing Tokiya like this, he was convinced that he did something wrong.

But, the question was…. What did he do?

“That’s why I told you to go back to your dorm first, Otoya! Just listen to me already!” Masato urged.

“But, why!?”

“Because I hate you, son of a bitch!!” Tokiya exploded. His voice was way too loud and maybe the loudest that anybody ever heard.  

“Why? Why do you hate me? What did I do?” Otoya was crying now since being hated by his own brother was unthinkable. “I thought that we are getting along now. I thought that you like me…”

“You thought THAT?” Tokiya sneered as he chuckled sarcastically. “You seriously thought that WE… You and I are going be close like before!? Not even in your freaking dream! The moment you said to her that you love her but you still frigging helped me to confess to her, I tell you what? You are such an asshole, Otoya!”

“Tokiya, you don’t need to put it that way. At least, let him explain. Maybe there is a misunderstanding…”

“He. Said. That. He. Loves. Her. Masato. I am not frigging deaf! I heard exactly what he told her! I can’t believe that I trust this jerk! If you are interested in her, just go ahead! Do you have to be shitty with my feeling as well!? You deliberately promised me that stupid rooftop confession so that I can see by myself that you actually love her, you can make her kissed you. You can make her love you while me… I am just a stupid loser here! Is that what you wanted to show me!?”

Otoya’s red eyes sized up. Now he could digest the situation. He was positive that Tokiya was there when Tomochika kissed his cheek. Tokiya was also there when he said ‘I love you’ to the girl but the blue head obviously did not listen to their conversation until the end. Tokiya had no idea that Tomochika went berserk after she was rejected by Otoya. 

“Tokiya, please… Let me explain that…”

“No, you don’t have to explain anything because I am goddamn tired! Let me tell you something. Since you were born, everything went wrong! Did you hear that? EVERYTHING went wrong! You, with the curse in your body, you will just make everybody around you die including your parents, my mother. She left me because of you! If only you didn’t distract her from driving that day, she would still be alive! You killed her, you bastard!!”

“Tokiya, you just crossed the line, you know,” Masato turned pale as he could see how Otoya was this close to have a mental breakdown once the sensitive issue was brought up again.

“You should realize since a long time ago that the moment you stepped into our house, you brought along your curse! That is why I hate you, Otoya!”

Otoya was dumbfounded. He was never told that he was the reason for Suzuna’s death. As soon as he woke up, everybody just told him that they were crashed by a lorry. Nobody ever blamed him.

All this time… No wonder Tokiya felt sick just to look at him.

Tokiya’s anger did make sense now.   

“All this time, you always told me that I didn’t give a shit about you, right?? Instead, I will do anything for Masato. Straight to your face, I would like to say, I rather have him as my brother instead of you. You, Otoya…” the vocalist pointed at Otoya. “I never treated you as my brother. You are just a stranger who brought nothing but shits to my life. If the rumour about this school is true, I really wish you die, Otoya! You should die instead!”

“Tokiya…” Masato was too speechless to mutter more words.

Did he just wish for him to die?

“Get your ass out of here before I kill you. Go away!” Tokiya pushed Otoya. His strong energy and Otoya’s feeble body were enough to send the red head to the ground. 

“Go away!”

“Stop it, Tokiya!”

With his remained energy, Otoya struggled to stand up before slowly leaving Masato and Tokiya.

“You are too much, Tokiya! Do you really have to mention his parents to an orphan!? What the hell is wrong with you!?” Masato scolded his best friend right away before chasing Otoya.

Tokiya sighed in anger. As much as he hated it when Masato backed Otoya, the blue head was right. He was too harsh when he mentioned Otoya’s late parents but he just could not control his indignation anymore.

Why should I feel sorry then? Serves him right. He should know by now that he brings bad luck and he must stay away from me, Tokiya justified his harsh treatment to Otoya as he headed to his room. For sure, Otoya would never dare to show his face there.

* * *

 

**“Otoya,** wait!” Masato grabbed Otoya’s hand. The red head did not resist but it was enough to show that he did not want Masato to see him crying.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me, Masa?”

“Huh?”

“About me being the reason for mummy to…”

“Because you are not. Tokiya just took it wrong. You never intended such thing to happen, Otoya.”

Yet, Masato knew, his answer was not enough to convince Otoya.

“All this time, all I want is to make Tokiya smiles when he sees me. Just when it was the first time he saw me at the orphanage. He was the first one who said to me that there is no way for a person to cause someone’s death but because of me…” He trembled as tears still streamed down his face. “It was gone. Tokiya no longer held the belief. It was all because of me.”

“Don’t say that, Otoya…”

“I envy you, Masa. Tokiya always favours you. He even said that he wants you to be his brother instead of me. I really want to be like you but considering I am the one who killed mummy, I think I don’t deserve to be Ichinose family, let alone anyone’s family. Please tell Tokiya that I am so sorry. I was meant to say that I love Tomo-chan like how I love my friends but he never let me explained anything,” Otoya walked again to God-knows-who, leaving Masato who finally could not hold his tears.

How did it turn into something like this? Poor Otoya...

* * *

 

**He** knew that going back to his room now would cause more catastrophes. The fact that he shared a room with Tokiya for three years was no longer being the most wonderful thing for him. Instead, it turned into a nightmare because all this time, he roomed with someone who he had committed a sin to but the worse thing was…

He never realized it up until now.

Otoya hugged his knees as he looked around the practice room. This was the only option. He would never sleep over in somebody’s room with his puffy eyes and dirty school uniform.

“Mummy, what should I do?” He mumbled, hoped that Suzuna was somewhere, hearing him.

“I caused you dead. I made everyone who I love dead. What should I do?”

Two hours passed and with his tired body and empty stomach, Otoya fell asleep right away on the cold floor until his smartphone received a call from someone.

He answered the call drowsily as he saw the name appeared on the screen.

“Hello, Cecil?”

“Hello, Otoya!” Cecil sounded like he was chased by a bulldog. “Haruka… You must help Haruka!”

“Why? What happened to her?”

“Tomochika is getting crazy! She called me just now and she asked me to bring you along if we want to save Haruka. I don’t know exactly what happened but she just kidnapped Haruka! They were somewhere outside the school!”

Otoya’s heart dropped.

_“If you rejected me because of her, I will never let it slide. Never! I will make you love me, Otoya-kun. Even it means that I have to get rid of Haruka! I swear!”_

No… It can’t be…

With his still spinning head, Otoya grabbed his bag. “If that’s so, can you wait for me at the main gate? We will go there together. Okay, bye.”

Nanami… His heart whispered the name out of worry. Hopefully, she would be fine even considering how crazy Tomochika looked and sounded when he rejected her, he could not guarantee that Haruka would not be harmed at all.

As for now, all mattered for Otoya was Haruka. He would do anything to rescue his friend.

It never crossed his mind that soon, just very soon, something unthinkable and sinister would take over his life forever.

 

 

   

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phewww, done writing chapter 6! I am sooooo relieved to have this chapter published because it was challenging to write it especially when almost everybody in this chapter got emotional. As usual, feel free to let me know what do you think about this chapter. See ya!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding Otoya...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, thank you for the awesome comment, Naniwise-san! And thank you for the kudos, Clumsy_Daisy-san!

DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA. I JUST OWN THE PLOT.

**It** was 1.00 a.m but Tokiya could not sleep even his body and mind were way too tired with all the dramas that took place today. It was raining cats and dogs outside so he simply concluded that he could not sleep because of the factor even his head now was full of Otoya. His long-term enemy still did not come back to their room and as much as he was grateful for it, he could not restrain himself from being slightly worried about where might the guitarist sleep over.

Yet again, his ego was his priority now.

At the end, he felt that it was boring to stay on his bed so he switched on the lamp and sat on his study desk to read a book before somebody knocked on the door.

It was 1.00 a.m. so nobody was insane enough to disturb him like this unless…

The person was Masato, according to Tokiya’s definition.

“Hey, hasn’t Otoya come back yet?” Masato, wearing a yukata, asked Tokiya as the vocalist opened the door.

“No,” Tokiya answered flatly as he headed back to his desk.

“This is weird. Where did he go?” Masato stepped inside the room before closing the door, letting himself in while Tokiya just shut his eyes in annoyance.

He knew the tone. Masato wanted to provoke him. Masato wanted him to feel guilty and take back what he had said to Otoya which of course, would be impossible.

“Masato, if you want to talk about the bastard, I am pleased to let you know that I am not interested.”

“Oh, really?” The scion sounded sarcastic while pretending to be amazed. “And I am pleased to let you know that I am not surprised at all. Given you are so egoistic and petty to begin with.”

Did Masato realize what time it was now? Was he seriously trying to pick a fight with Tokiya now? The vocalist really did not want to do such emotionally tiring activity, let alone with his best friend now. 

“This is not the right time to fight, Masato.”

“Oh, yeah? But the problem is… I don’t care what time it is now. What should we do, huh?” the pianist mocked. “You can think whatever you want and you can hate me after this but I just want to help you fixing your ego.”

“Are you still talking about that bastard again?”

“That bastard that you insulted a few hours ago is an orphan who lost his parents out of his will. Not even a second he would think about causing them to die and the same goes for your mother, Tokiya.”

No responses from Tokiya but Masato did not want to give up easily. It was not his thing to give a lecture and behave like a typical _okachan_ at midnight but because of Tokiya, he forced himself to summon his moxie tonight.  

He just did not want Tokiya to regret later because he knew the blue head too well. He had a very loving side, just like his late mother but he chose to be cold just because he could not accept the reality.

“The bastard is the boy who is very happy to have you as your brother. As he grew up, he spent his time wondering why you have been so mean to him. What had he done wrong? Do you hate him? He asked me those for so many times.”

Tokiya just flipped his book pages, showing no interests in Masato’s midnight rant.

“When he got no answers from anyone and he thinks that he must work hard to make you like him again, he asked your father to talk to the principal so that you and he would be roommates for the whole school years.”

“What!?” This time around, Tokiya snapped as he shut his book. He turned to meet eyes with Masato who was poker-faced. “The roommates thingy is a plan and you just told me now?”

“Come on, Tokiya. I am not that stupid, okay? If we told you, do you think that you would just sit around and do nothing? Not even in anybody’s dream, right? And you know what is another annoying but awesome thing? I was the one who told Otoya to help you with your crush so that you would warm up to him.”

“Excuse me?” Tokiya stood up from his chair as he approached Masato. His face was like thunder, enough to make the scion flinched but he was determined to knock some sense into Tokiya’s head. “Did you just say that you told him my secret?”

“Yeah,” Masato deadpanned, sending the blue head to clench his fists in anger. “Because it’s not like he is a scandalmonger or something, right? He’s your brother. How harmful could it be?”

“‘How harmful could it be’,huh?” Tokiya repeated, suggesting a danger. “Then, should I tell everyone about your crush on Nanami-san so that you will know how harmful can it be and you will end up apologizing to me?”

“Go ahead. I don’t care.”

“I thought we are friends, Masato! How could you!?” Tokiya snapped. He was frustrated when his attempt to threat the pianist turned into a failure.

“Yes, we ARE friends and that’s why I act like one. I am not your minion, Tokiya! I am not here to lick your boots but to let you know that the way you treated Otoya is wrong. That’s what friends are supposed to do! I point out your flaws because I want the best for you. Just tell me now, Tokiya. How the hell an orphan who doesn’t have many goals in his life other than debuting as an idol someday and getting chummy with his brother back can even think about stealing a girl from his own brother? I bet he doesn’t even think about starting a relationship because to him, that is not important for now.”

“And yet you trusted him?” Tokiya smirked, internally laughing at Masato who seemed so naïve in his eyes. “That easy?”

“Yes because I know Otoya more than you know him. He is the nicest brother that I can ask. He cares about you. He did not hide your school uniform every morning for nothing, you know. He just tried to make you talked to him!”

“I hope he knows that his way of making me talked to him is absurd. He just added more reasons for me to curse him.”

“He stood up for you about your perfect idol image because he knows you want to be free from it. You want to be yourself.”

“I didn’t ask for his help and it’s not bad to be perfect, though. Everyone likes me anyway.”

“And he even planned your confession…”

 “He said he loves Shibuya-san!” Tokiya snapped again as the most terrible memory hit his head again. 

“He meant he loves her like his friends, like STARISH. This is why you should let him explain instead of leaping to conclusions like that!” This time, Masato’s deep voice turned louder, enough to make Tokiya flinched.

“YOU,” the scion pointed at the blue head with a rage and Tokiya could see how shaky it was. “Not only you did not give him any chance to explain to you but you even wished for his death instead of your mother! That was the most unforgivable thing that I have ever heard from you. I know you are mean but I never thought that you can be that heartless, Tokiya! You wished for your own family to die! How could you!”

It was an intense silence as Masato gasped for a breath while calming himself down. His eyes never left Tokiya’s but what was the most aggravating thing was the blue head did not show any sort of emotion on his face.

Instead, his next set of words struck Masato like a thunder.

“You can say whatever you want, Masato. But, just so you know, it is normal when I wish for my mother to live instead of that frigging stranger.”

His answer gained himself an appalled expression from Masato. The pianist widened his eyes as he continued staring at the vocalist, indirectly asking either he really meant it or it was just a lame joke.

“No, this is not a joke. I meant what I said,” Tokiya sneered, gaining himself a heavy and sorrowful sigh from Masato.

“That’s your problem, then,” Masato simply gave up now as he headed for the door. He could not think anything else that might convince Tokiya to fix his brain. Tokiya was too stubborn and immature.

“But, just remember, Tokiya,” the pianist turned as he held the doorknob. “Our life will never be eternal. The same goes with everyone that we love so I hope that when you realize that you still love your brother, you still have a chance to atone for your mistake,” as Masato was about to leave the room, he received a call from someone that had been the cause of their argy-bargy.

“Otoya?” He glanced at Tokiya who just rolled his eyes and took a seat back at his desk.

“Hello, Otoya.”

“Masa…” The voice over there somehow sounded in fear and weak.

“Hey, where are you!? When will you come back? Look… If you are afraid of that certain idiot right now, just sleep over in my room, okay? Jinguji is already sleeping so you don’t need to be worried about your puffy eyes or anything.”

Otoya chuckled bitterly. 

“You are always nice to me, Masa. Thanks a lot,” the redhead cleared his throat. “But, I don’t think I will come back tonight. It’s just that… I want to thank you for everything, Masa.”

“What… What do you mean?”

What was with this sudden and platonic drama?

“Thank you for always backing me, helping me. Nobody can understand me better than you, Masa. You are so kind. No wonder Tokiya likes you.”

“Otoya, don’t talk rubbish like that. You scared me and I don’t feel flattered at all,” his heart thumped so fast. It did not sound like Otoya to say something melancholic like that. The boy had always been so bubbly and positive. “Just where are you, Otoya? Tell me. I will pick you up.”

“No, it’s okay, Masa. I am fine,” the soft voice suddenly cracked and the scion could hear sobs from Otoya.

“Otoya, are you crying right now?”

“No, not really. It’s just that I feel guilty about what I have done to Tokiya…”

“I already said to that idiot that you don’t mean you love Shibuya in that way but I think something happened to his ears and brain. Maybe a virus attack,” Masato ignored the death glare from Tokiya.

“Masa, that’s not nice.”

“I am telling you the truth. Okay, enough with your stupid brother. Where are you, Otoya?”

“I am just hanging out somewhere. I need a fresh air after all,” Otoya’s voice turned incoherent as the wind blew so strong to his direction. “Masa, can you help me?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Please tell Tokiya that I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I love my brother, Masa. But if he still refuses to forgive me, I understand. After all, nobody likes a cursed child in their family, right? So, I guess, that’s all from me. Thank you, Masa.”’

“Hey, Otoya! _Chotto_!”

Otoya just switched off his phone. That was what Masato could conclude when he tried to call the redhead back. He turned to look at Tokiya.

“Just in case you want to know even I don’t think you even care at all, your brother said he loves you and he apologized for what he had done to you but I think there is something wrong with him. He hid something from us,” Masato informed before slamming the door as he went out of the room.

Tokiya froze in his chair, not sure how to feel when Otoya apologized to him. He was spaced out, thinking about Masato’s previous lecture before he received a call from his father, Kazuki.

“Hello, daddy… What’s wrong? It’s already…”

“That should be my line, Tokiya. What’s wrong? Why did Otoya suddenly call me and apologize for being a cursed child in our family? What had you done to him, Tokiya!?”

 Like Masato, Kazuki totally exploded this time.

* * *

 

 **Two** days passed and with Otoya’s status as the missing person, it made everyone getting panicky and prayed for his safety. Just like Tokiya, Otoya gained himself a lot of fans for his likable personality so his disappearance somehow made others felt the aura around the school turned gloomier than usual.

The policemen worked hard to find him including interrogating everyone who would possibly come across him at that night including _Cecil, Haruka_ and _Tomochika_.

Yet so far, nobody could give enough information to ease the investigation.

As for Tokiya, being Otoya’s brother, he was bombarded with so many questions from the guitarist’s fans.

And also from his father, Ichinose Kazuki after he and Masato were summoned to go back home.

“Masato told me everything, Tokiya,” with a single glare and first sentence from his father, Tokiya knew where the interrogation would lead to.

‘Everything’ meant the scion told Kazuki how he insulted Otoya before the redhead completely vanished off the face of the earth. Well, that really sounded like Masato. He did not care if Tokiya called him a betrayer as long as he believed that what he did was right.

Heck, both of them even ranted the same thing with identical sets of words which consisted of;

“Your brother loves you, Tokiya.”

“How could you mention his late parents?”

“He is not a curse. He doesn’t hope for anybody’s death including your mother.”

“He helped you with your crush. There is no way he would betray you.”

“You ditched him just because of a girl?”

Which he forced himself to explain for the nth time that he did not mind if Otoya also loves Tomochika but he was mad because the guy lied to him.

And the last but not least…

“How come you wished for his death? How come you turned to be this heartless?”

Which eventually made the guilt slowly crawled into Tokiya’s veins. He knew he was wrong and harsh but…

There was no way the school could grant his wish, right? It was just a _rumour_ , right?

* * *

 

 **Now,** it had been a week since Otoya’s disappearance. Tokiya could not help but wonder about the redhead’s whereabouts. That guy was not someone who would act recklessly no matter how depressed and miserable he felt. If he went somewhere, he would tell anyone, in case someone looked for him.

Yet, this time, Otoya did not even leave any messages and calls. Something that one would never do if he was physically and mentally stable. 

As for Tokiya, spending time in school while wearing a very gloomy face was not a tough thing to do since everybody would assume that he behaved like that because he was worried about Otoya. He really cared about Otoya. Once again, his flawless image saved him.

But, except Masato who did not talk with him for a few days since the scion was fed up with his obstinacy, nobody knew that there were mixed feelings in his heart about Otoya.

Where had he gone? Was he alright? Was he still sad?

Every time he came back to their room, there was a crumb of hope in his heart that Otoya would make a surprise to him, saying that….

“Tokiya, I am back!! Do you miss me? I bet you miss me, right? Don’t worry. I am alright. I just went to…”

And their normal days would start again since Otoya would just pretend that everything was fine and Tokiya did not need to bother to apologize to the redhead for being mean.

Tokiya desperately needed the moment to happen now. He really wanted the ‘hiding his school uniform’ prank took place again in his mundane life.

He agreed that Masato and Kazuki were right. He still loves his brother and it actually never vanished. He did care about Otoya but he just disregarded it.

He recalled the first time when he saw Otoya in elementary school. It all started when he wondered why Otoya was bullied a lot. He was always alone when the lunchtime. All he did was eating just like how the students were supposed to do but it was enough for those so-called stronger and bigger bullies to pick on him before stealing and throwing his lunch box to the floor. Their words that irritated Tokiya the most were…

“Oh, pity you, you orphan. You don’t have a mum, you don’t have a papa. Pity you…”

Which led Tokiya to approach them while wondering why being an orphan was a problem for them? Was it that funny when a kid grew up without parents?

And when he asked them with;

“I am sorry to interrupt but why are you guys bullying him?”

“Because he is an orphan,” one of the boys who was most probably the leader answered him arrogantly.

“Then, what’s wrong with it?”

They looked at each other, obviously did not know the motive of their deviant activity which only made them looked ten times more ridiculous than usual.

“Em… _etto_ … He doesn’t have parents. He is a loser.”

Which was the stupidest answer that Tokiya had ever heard. It could not be helped since they were still the kids with immature brains but if they themselves did not really know what was the definition of ‘loser’, why would they bully Otoya in the first place?

So, Tokiya saved Otoya on that day because he held strongly with what his mother had told him. Children went to school to learn how to be a kind boy or else, the God will get angry with them. So, he felt responsible to tell the bullies what the God felt to see them bullying a weak kid.

The blue head never knew that helping Otoya made him more protective towards the stranger. Especially when he learned that the redhead encountered more bullying from the same kids and once he found out that he could intimidate them (probably because of his guts and tall frame), he got another idea. 

After he got the permission from Suzuna, he went to Otoya’s orphanage and the first sentence that came out from his thin lips was…

 “Hey, want to be my brother? You will not get bullied anymore.”

Just like what he said, the boys did not even dare to touch Otoya anymore and he felt so happy with that.

* * *

 

 **Tokiya** sighed heavily. He was the one who asked Suzuna to adopt Otoya because he did not want the boy to be sad again. But now, it turned out that he was the one who made the redhead feeling more miserable. If the bullies were still here and saw how mean he was with Otoya, they would take the mickey out of him. If he was the main character in a movie, people would get pissed off with his attitude. A character like him would only feel guilty when the object of his resentment disappeared or died. The audience would criticize him, saying how stupid he was to feel rueful when it was too late.

Yet, the question was… Where was Otoya? He never knew either it was too late or vice versa for him to atone for his mistakes until he found Otoya.

As he was spaced out while staring longingly at Otoya’s room side, there were a few knocks on the door until Masato opened it by himself.

“Tokiya…” Masato was going to ask something but stop himself as he read Tokiya’s face expression.

“Then, shall we look for him together?” Masato suggested with a smile.

Tokiya chuckled bitterly. “Yeah, I guess.”

* * *

 

 **“Wait,** Tokiya. Are you sure that you want to find him HERE?” Masato swallowed an invisible lump in his throat as his shaky finger pointed at the abandoned building. It was a cryptic building that made itself notorious for its myths and horror stories, not far from Saotome Academy.

“Yeah.”

“Why!?”

“Just because… I just feel like I want to come here. Come on, let’s go. It’s getting late,” Tokiya calmly headed for the main door.

“No, I am not going,” feeling not satisfied with Tokiya’s unconvincing answer, Masato just stood there in fear. It was surrounded by a thick forest with fewer sources of lights so God knew how he felt when strange sounds resonated out of nowhere.

“Why? You can hold my shirt hem or something if you feel scared,” Tokiya suggested.

“No! That’s not what I meant!”

Even it really was.

“Then, what?” Tokiya asked. Maybe he was temporarily deaf and blind to the point of he could not digest that the whole situation itself looked macabre. 

“It’s only two of us and you do know the popular horror story when two people go to a scary place, right? The B person kept following the A person but at the end, he realized that…”

“The so-called A person was not his friend, right?” Tokiya’s voice turned husky and creepy, much to Masato’s fright. “Like what happened to you right now?”

“W…What?” Masato stared at Tokiya who seemed like he was being possessed by a random entity in disbelief. “Wait! You are not Tokiya?” The scion suddenly played out a familiar scene from a horror movie.

Silence.

“Ah, I got caught,” Tokiya giggled like the certain killer from Death Note anime.

“Tokiya…” When Masato was about to pass out, Tokiya deadpanned again.

“Did you enjoy it that much? Come on, we cannot waste time,” Tokiya rolled his eyes as he walked into the house, leaving the speechless Masato behind.

What the heck? He pulled a prank on me when here I am, almost lost my lifespan?

“W…What do you mean I am enjoying it!? I was scared to death you know!” Masato protested.

“But seriously, how can you protect Nanami-san when you yourself are a scaredy-cat, Masato? I heard that Nanami-san gets scared easily so you might as well do something with your dramatic side.”

“Where did that come from? Of course I will be brave to protect her!”

As they continued bickering, they could see the image of red liquid splattered everywhere. Almost all the windows were broken and both of them could only assume that they were all the naughty boys’ doing who basically would never learn until the actual ghost showed up.

“Otoya…” Tokiya called out, slowly walking with the hesitant Masato behind. “Are you there?”

“I don’t think this is right, Tokiya. We should go back…”

All of sudden, they heard scratching sounds coming from somewhere nearby.  

“There is someone in there, right? Let’s take a look,” Tokiya nonchalantly remarked as he slowly opened a cracked door.

“What? No!” Masato shouted, desperately objecting but his friend was too curious to listen to him.

Tokiya was crazy! There was no way he would follow Tokiya to ensure the source of the scratching sounds. Obviously, somebody held a sharp object like knives and played around with the wall.

And obviously, that kind of person or entity was not sane at all. How could not Tokiya at least consider the risk that they might face afterward?

“Excuse me…” Tokiya went to the source of cryptic sound before gasping loudly.

“Tokiya, what happened?”

The scratching sound was no longer could be heard and the same goes with Tokiya.

“Tokiya, answer me…”

Still…

“ _Mou,_ why do you always like to make everything a suspense? Just answer me already!” Masato thoughtlessly headed for Tokiya before making sense why the vocalist gasped just now since he himself also let out the same response.

The two best friends now stared at a thin frame, crouched down while holding a breaking glass. His red eyes stared at them back, looking horrified.

“Otoya…” Both Masato and Tokiya muttered as they were devastated and relieved at the same time.

The said boy crawled back, seemed scared but no words formed from his thin lips. He strongly shivered and they could see that he injured his head while the blood still looked fresh.

“Otoya… There you are…” Without thinking too much, Tokiya pulled the smaller frame into his arms. “Finally… Everyone is looking for you. Where have you been? What happened to you?”

As much as he felt happy to find the redhead, Masato was wondering about Otoya’s suspicious state. What happened to his bloody head? Why did he look so dirty? Why did he look traumatized?

As for Otoya, he could not answer any of Tokiya’s questions. His lips felt dry. He was still in shock and scare but to finally find out that Tokiya also looked for him, he could not ask for a better circumstance after experiencing a hell for a week.

But, still… There was something that he really wanted to know.

“I am sorry, Otoya. I know I had been mean to you. I am really sorry.”

Why now, Tokiya? Why?

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter 7! Maybe there was no Tomochika so it felt easier to complete this chapter. As usual, feel free to let me know what do you think, okay? See ya!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Otoya would never forgive Tomochika...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you, Naniwise-san for the comment. And also for the bookmarks and subscription, thank you so much, guys! And... I know we are already in chapter 8 but I would like to apologize for making the main characters OOC. I should have putting a warning beforehand. Nevertheless, hope you enjoy this chapter since I must say that... *smirk I enjoyed writing the dark version of Otoya.

DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA. I just own the plot.

 

 **It** had been a few days since Otoya was found and admitted to the hospital. He had become so quiet that the doctor could only assume that it was because of the trauma that he suffered from his injury. He spent his time by being spaced out even somebody was there to visit him. So far, nobody knew what had happened to him during the past week.  

This not-Otoya-esque sight was intolerable for Tokiya, especially with the fact that he was the cause of this situation.

Yet, Otoya looked obviously disturbed when two policemen visited him to interrogate him.

“Good evening, Ichinose-san. I am Officer Ryugazaki and this is my partner, Officer Suwa. We were in charge of your disappearance last week. If you don’t hesitate, can you give us full cooperation so that we can solve your case as soon as possible?”

“Go ahead. Make it fast,” Otoya muttered flatly but that was enough to make all of them gazed at each other. The redhead suddenly acted cold as soon as he saw those officers.

“Since October 6th, you had disappeared for a week. On the same day, a few witnesses informed us that they saw a white van with a few guys in the abandoned building which where you were found. By any chances, do you know them?”

“No, I don’t know them,” Otoya answered bitterly and quickly but nobody ever realized that he was looking daggers at Tomochika who ended up hiding behind Cecil.

Just why did that vixen come here anyway? He thought furiously.  

“Were you in that building on October 6th?”

“I didn’t.”

“Then, can you tell us where did those injuries come from? According to the report from your doctor, the injury and some bone fractures showed that you just fell from a high place. Can you tell us what exactly had happened to you?”

So annoying, the redhead thought as he closed his eyes. Those questions just made his urge to kill somebody in the room burnt in his veins.

“I tried to commit a suicide. Did I answer your question?” Otoya sneered with his darkened expression, much to everyone’s shock. “You can close the case since there is no crime, officer. I disappeared because I was so depressed and I needed to be alone.”

All of them were speechless but nothing could beat Tokiya’s unsettled feeling.

“What do you mean, Otoya? Why would you commit a suicide?” Kazuki asked his youngest son as it was hard to admit just how absurd it sounded. Otoya never did something that horrendous no matter how despondent he could be.

“No real reasons. It just that… I felt that everything would go wrong again if I stayed alive.”

Masato looked at Tokiya. Apparently, both of them knew more than anyone about what encouraged Otoya to say such thing.

* * *

 

 **“Here** we go,” Tokiya exclaimed as soon the taxi that he and Otoya got in arrived in front of their house.

Instead of responding to Tokiya, Otoya just got off before gazing at the bungalow, feeling a sudden longing for the place which he called a paradise.

A paradise that would be perfect without him, the curse who tore Ichinose family apart.

“Otoya, are you okay?”

“Eh? Yes, I am fine,” Otoya was startled with a sudden hug around his shoulder from Tokiya.

“Let me bring your bag,” Tokiya offered but the redhead was fast to refuse.

“It’s okay. It’s not that heavy,” the redhead took this opportunity to release himself from Tokiya’s hug. He really felt awkward and uncomfortable.

“Are you sure? How about your legs? Can you walk properly?” Tokiya still tried to help Otoya but it seemed like it just made the redhead felt more awkward. “Do you need help?”

“No. Seriously, it’s okay,” Otoya forced a smile as he moved away from Tokiya. “No need to be concerned, though. I am used to taking care of myself.”

Otoya never had the intention to make Tokiya feeling bad but his answer was enough for the blue head to feel so. Tokiya froze on his spot as Otoya, with his still injured legs, limping towards the house.

He was positive that Otoya still resented him.

* * *

 

 **“The** fried chicken… You should put it over there, Masato. Otoya loves to sit on the right side so you should make the chicken accessible to him,” Kazuki instructed Masato as he was busy arranging different plates of Otoya’s favourite foods.

“I think they are already here, _ojisan_ ,” Masato remarked as he could catch the sound of footsteps from the living room.

“Oh, crap! Come on, Masato! Let’s get ready,” Kazuki quickly dragged the boy who was still arranging fries to the front side of the dining room.

“ _Ojisan,_ I still have fries in my hand…”

“Let it be. We should shout ‘welcome home’ to him now. 1…2…”

As soon as they could see Otoya, walking slowly with a tired face…

“Welcome home, Otoya!!”

To say that Otoya was surprised was an understatement. In fact, he almost collapsed before making himself supported by a wall. He rubbed his chest in alarm as Masato and Kazuki looked overexcited to greet him.

“Oh, sorry, Otoya. Did we surprise you?” Masato asked the obvious as he hugged Otoya. “I am truly sorry. Look, _ojisan_. We shouldn’t do that in the first place. This is all your fault!”

“How come this is my fault when this is all your plan?” Kazuki exclaimed in disbelief. This brat is unbelievable!

“Ugh, you are unbelievable, _ojisan_.”

“What did you say to me, Masato?”

“What are you guys on about?” Otoya questioned with his puzzled face.

“Eh? Well… It’s a surprise! Surprise!” Masato exclaimed awkwardly. It looked so lame when the welcomed one did not even look enthusiastic, especially when you expected that the said person would get excited like the usual him. “Here… Have some fries,” Masato fed the fries in his hand to Otoya.

“Oh… Thank you,” Otoya smiled as he chewed slowly but it was enough to distract Masato and Kazuki who knew him more than ten years.

This was not Otoya. He just lost his old self and God knows what might cause him to behave such in a mysterious way.  

“Then, you must be hungry, right, Otoya? Come, join us. We already cooked a lot of foods for you,” Masato carefully helped Otoya to walk properly to the dining table. At the same time, Tokiya who just arrived felt bitter as unlike with him, Otoya did not refuse the body contact from Masato.

 “How’s it? Do you like it?” Kazuki asked as Otoya was ready on his seat.

Otoya scanned every single food on the table. Yes, he was starving since he did not eat properly during the past days but he still lost his appetite. He had so many things to think and face after this so he really did not feel like doing something leisurely like eating.

But, of course, he felt the warm and homely atmosphere around him.

* * *

 

 **_“Hey,_ ** _want to be my brother? You will never get bullied anymore.”_

The redhead never forgot the best feeling that he ever had as soon as Tokiya said that right in front of his face. Back in their elementary school, he always felt impressed with the blue head. Tokiya always had a group of pupils who would follow him around and compliment how talented, cute or nice he was. His lunchtime was like a festival. It was lively and fun with his friends talked and jested with him.

Unlike Otoya… Just an orphan who did not have any friend and would eat his lunch alone. He was really sad when everybody avoided him as soon as they knew that he was an orphan. He was clueless about why the bullies always loved ridiculing him. He thought that nobody would ever love him as much as his parents did until he met Tokiya. He never expected that a boy who had everything in his life would even waste his time for someone like him.

Since Tokiya was the only one who got the audacity to stand up for him when he got bullied, the blue head became the hero in his life. When everybody in his orphanage named those legendary and fictional characters like Ultraman and Batman as their heroes, he, on the other hand, drew a blue-haired boy with a friendly smile on his drawing block, saying that…

“This is my hero, Ichinose Tokiya. He is a senior at my school. He is kind…”

Which coincidentally, the said person visited and saw Otoya presented about him right in front of his friends when their teacher asked him to come in front.

It was embarrassing but much to the redhead’s glee…

“Thank you but I don’t think I am amazing like Ultraman or Batman to be your hero.”

Since then, his life changed. He was addressed as the youngest member of Ichinose family. A few years had passed and even when he had no idea why Tokiya suddenly detested him, he wanted to continue to be the acknowledged Ichinose family member so he tried so hard to get chummy with Tokiya again.

But, because of Tomochika… Because of that wench, his plan was ruined like nobody business. His life was totally destroyed.

After what had happened to him on that _night_ , he never thought that he would feel this kind of feeling in his life.

The feeling where he would despise somebody for their existence.

He hated Shibuya Tomochika. He would never forgive her.

“Otoya!”

The said redhead flinched as Tokiya, who appeared out of nowhere, calling out his name, not far from the tree house he was sitting at.

“Tokiya…”  

“What are you doing up there? I believe that you should rest in your room instead of climbing a tree, right?”

“I feel bored. This place is much cozier,” Otoya answered flatly.

“Well, you got a point there,” Tokiya agreed reluctantly before climbing up the tree, taking a seat beside the confused Otoya. “Plus, I know how agile my brother could be. He just doesn’t like to stay in the same spot for a long time.”

Tokiya did not realize that Otoya was staring at him, with a glum smile on his thin lips.

At last, you called me your brother, Tokiya.   

“By the way, I don’t mean to scare you but daddy used to say to me, this area is quite haunted, especially at night like now. Last two weeks, our neighbor just bumped into a messy-haired ghost,” Tokiya remarked while being half-joking about it since he knew how critical Otoya’s fright could be. Maybe this story would lure Otoya to leave the place as soon as possible and he would rest peacefully in his room but…

“Oh, really?” Otoya put on a very poker face which was implausible. “You mean… ghosts really love this area?”

“Y…yeah.”

Did my story not sound scary enough to him? That’s strange.  

“Then, I think daddy is right because I just saw the messy-haired ghost. As soon as it looked at me, I could see the red eyes, sharp teeth… The face itself… It looked like it’s just been scratched and stabbed…”     

“It can’t be… Maybe it’s just your imagination,” Tokiya reasoned out.

This kid… Is he trying to make fun of me instead?

“No, I am telling you the truth. It was there, under the big tree but it disappeared so fast,” with his innocent red eyes, it was sized up in amazement as he tried to convince the not-so-convinced Tokiya. “Oh, look over there, Tokiya! One more. It’s crawling here, just like The Ring ghost. Can you see that?”

 What the… This is not even a joke anymore.

Tokiya slowly looked at the ground but nothing could be seen.

Otoya smiled calmly. “Nah, you don’t have to worry, Tokiya. Maybe they just love this place. They will not disturb us if we don’t pick a fight with them.”  

“How can you suddenly see those ghosts, Otoya?”

And not to mention you can talk about it that cool.

The redhead shrugged. “Beats me but don’t you think it’s weird? Why human beings tend to be afraid with ghosts when they used to be human beings too? They used to live like one. And one more thing, they don’t even have a body, a medium that will make it possible for them to touch us.”

Tokiya furrowed his brow as he tried to answer the question. “Hmm... Maybe the majority of the ghosts have a very disturbing face like they have bloodstains, scars… Or to make it clearer, they look like a homicide victim.”

Otoya nodded out of acknowledgment but in his mind, there were so many things to linger on. “Then, if you see a ghost but it looks like a human, is it still frightening?”

“I don’t know. I seriously don’t know,” Tokiya answered honestly because since he was small, he did not find ghosts as eerie. In fact, when they were still in elementary school, he always thought that ghost houses as monotonous. But, he and Masato did not have choices since Otoya would pester them to join him just because he felt curious about the ghost house. Yet, after that, Tokiya ended up protecting and comforting those two scaredy-cats after they could not stop crying from seeing those hair – rising but fake creatures.

 “Come to think of it, Tokiya, you are not afraid of ghosts, right? How is that even possible?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I believe that as long as we don’t annoy them, they will be just as nice to us.”

“Really? That’s good,” Otoya looked uncannily happy.

“What?”

“Eh? No, nothing. It’s just that you are so amazing, Tokiya. You don’t even feel afraid of ghosts. I bet they will like you more if they hear you.”

“Well, thanks, I guess,” Tokiya was not sure about what to feel since the topic itself was so random. “But, what’s with this ghost-talking anyway?”

“Because I was imagining what might happen if I really become a ghost. I don’t want to disturb people. I don’t want to be bad but people still find me scary. I don’t know how I will live my life, though.”    

It sounded foolish but for Tokiya, he felt that it was a stab straight to his heart. “What are you on about, Otoya?”

His glum reaction sent the guitarist to be surprised before scratching his head. “Nah, nothing. Maybe I feel so cold. That’s why I kept talking rubbish. You don’t have to feel so uneasy about it.”

“Hell, I won’t,” Tokiya suddenly sounded serious. “You have behaved strangely since your disappearance. Daddy and I were so troubled about you. We thought that maybe you just felt traumatized but… The way you acted now… It did not seem like the real you. Our friends also said the same thing.”

Otoya just responded with an unreadable look before curving in a smile. “It really was nothing. Plus, no matter how terrible the problem is, it can be settled, right?”

“Are you perhaps… Are you still angry with me, Otoya?”     

 Otoya twitched his brow, indirectly suggesting that Tokiya’s question was ridiculous but it just made Tokiya’s guilt hurt him more.

Did Otoya seriously not feel upset with what he had done to him?

“Why should I feel angry with you? You took such a good care of me. You were even absent from school for my sake. I cannot ask for a better bro… I mean a better caretaker. Instead, I should be the one who asked you either you are still angry with me or not.”     

 “No, I don’t feel angry with you anymore but…” He trapped the smaller frame into his arms. “I want to apologize. Please forgive me, Otoya. I never appreciated you before. I hurt you.”

Otoya smiled as he hugged Tokiya back. There was no way he would not forgive Tokiya. He is his family after all.

“No, don’t say that, Tokiya. You didn’t hurt me. In fact, I deserved that or else, I never realized that I was the one who…”

“No. Please don’t say that Otoya,” the vocalist tightened his embrace. “From now on, I will never say something like that to you again. I will treat you well… As your brother.”

 That was enough for Otoya to drop his tears. He wondered how could his life become so twisted like this?

Tokiya was right. Everything just went wrong the moment he lived.

* * *

 

 **Two** weeks later….

“Okay, remember, guys. First of all, please blow the party horns as loud as possible, okay?” Natsuki pointed at a group of his classmates as he instructed them.

“No, no, Shinomiya! Don’t surprise him too much. Otoya is not well enough. The last time we tried it at his house, he almost collapsed. We don’t want to send him back to the hospital,” Masato interrupted.

In A class, the brouhaha was no joke since they were all excited to welcome Otoya back. Natsuki and Masato led them in the most parts while Cecil and Tomochika were half-heartedly joined them as they still felt disturbed about Otoya.

“Hey, guys! He is here!” One of the class members shouted in panic, sending the others to run here and there before forming two lines in front of the door.

A few seconds passed before…

“Welcome back, Otoya!” All of them shouted in unison, followed by the squeaky sound of party horns, which later and expectedly caused the redhead to be taken aback.

“I told you guys, no need to be that ecstatic!” Masato scolded them right away before approaching Otoya. “Hey, are you okay?”

 “It’s okay, Masa. I am fine,” Otoya formed a smile before directing his gaze towards his classmates and his beautifully-decorated class with ‘Welcome Back, Otoya’ sentence on the blackboard. “Wow, you guys did all of these for me?”

“Of course, Otoya-kun! We are so glad to welcome you back,” Natsuki added, bubbly.

“Oh, well… Thank you, guys. I really appreciated that,” Otoya replied flatly.

“Hey, what’s with the lame mood? Don’t you feel happy to see us again, Otoya?” One of the students cracked a joke.

Otoya struggled to form a delighted smile.

If only they knew...

“He’s still recovering, guys. Give him a break,” Masato interrupted, trying to cool down the situation when deep inside, he was also concerned about Otoya.

“Then, let’s start with the party, shall we?” Natsuki’s cue sent the others to enjoy the party right away. Different kinds of dishes were provided as they also invited their teachers.

“Otoya-kun, _yokatta._ You are doing fine,” Haruka smiled as Otoya took a seat next to her after conversing with his teachers, together with the fidgety Tomochika and Cecil.

“Yeah, thank God,” Otoya answered as he stared at Tomochika rather intently. The girl had to look away several times because she was not comfortable with it.

She was aware that he was teasing her. He was internally laughing at her. He was provoking her to confess her sin.

“I want to refill my juice,” Haruka remarked as she left them, slowly disappearing in the midst of other students.

This was so menacing.

Three of them which consisted of Otoya, Cecil and Tomochika were sitting in silence. They could feel the tension as they knew, they had a lot of things to say to each other.

“Just be honest with us, Otoya. Where did you go after that? Just what happened to you?” At last, the Prince of Agnapolis gathered up his moxie to ask something that everybody wanted to know.

“I think somebody here has the answer for that, right, Tomochika?” Otoya emphasized the word ‘Tomochika’. No more ‘Tomo-chan’ from him. He was disgusted with the owner of the name, let alone to address her as that nickname.

Tomochika’s face turned pale.

“Guys, do you want more juices?” As soon as Haruka took her seat back, the other three forced the composure to be seen on their faces.

“Why not?” Otoya took one of the glasses from Haruka’s hand.

Cecil just swallowed his saliva as he recalled Otoya’s answer.

This was getting out of hand. He never thought that he would be daunted by his own friend, let alone by Otoya.

* * *

 

 **Otoya’s** reappearance was a catastrophe for her.

His reappearance, which was obviously for revenge, had kept her sleepless since the day she threatened him that she would hurt Haruka.

Her sleeplessness and concentration loss were enough to affect her performance in class and debut practice with Tokiya.  

“Stop!” Ringo shouted, ordering Tokiya and Tomochika to stop singing.

Tokiya and Tomochika shifted puzzled gazes between each other. Both Ringo and Hyuga looked somewhat disappointed with their singing today.  

“Tomo-chan, again... The same mistake,” Ringo exclaimed in dissatisfaction. “Try more like Tokiya-chan. I know he is more talented than you but you should at least be just below him, you know. At this rate, I am afraid he will shine more than you and he might as well be a soloist instead.”

“ _Hai_ , _sensei_ ,” Tomochika locked her eyes on her feet as she struggled to not look daggers at the cross-dressing teacher for belittling her.

“Hm… _sensei_. I think Shibuya-san did good enough,” Tokiya tried to ease the situation as he could see how despondent Tomochika looked and he did not feel good to be compared to for so many times today.

“Tokiya-chan,” Ringo curved in his evil smile that made Tokiya instantly flinched. “I know you are nice with everyone and you want to be nice with your partner too but you don’t have to behave like that all the time especially when she will end up dragging you down because of her incompetence.”

Darn it, Tomochika bit her lips.

“Please come to your senses, Shibuya. Even today’s practice is over, you have to improve yourself or else, Ichinose will overshadow you when you guys are supposed to be on the same level,” Hyuga just rubbed salt into the wound.

No, he won’t! There is no way this loser can beat me, Tomochika thought.  

“Shibuya-san, are you okay? Do you need help?” Tokiya asked as soon as Hyuga and Ringo left the room.

Obviously no, you retard!

“No, Tokiya-kun. It’s just that I lost my concentration. I felt tired with the practice and homework,” Tomochika forced a smile.

“Yeah, you are right. They are crazy these days,” Tokiya agreed, trying to make it sounded like they were in the same boat.

You fat liar! I know all these things are never hard for you, Tomochika mentally insulted her partner. At this rate, if she let Tokiya continued with his glory, he would snatch the winner title of the graduation audition.

No, the title is hers! So…

She would get rid of him, along with Nanami Haruka at any cost because they stood in her way.

She observed Tokiya down to his toe. She admired the perfect body but her priority now was to ruin him.

Where should I start? His face? Should I make it damaged? How about his voice? Should I cut his throat? Or… I will just kill him so that he will never come back to life again?

“What’s wrong, Shibuya-san?” Tokiya’s muddled expression dragged her to the reality.

“Nah, nothing.”

“Tokiyaaaa!” Otoya, who came out of nowhere appeared in front of the door, smiling brightly like the usual him.

“Oh, Otoya. What gives?” Tokiya asked as he took his bag from the nearby chair.

“Masa wants to see you at the cafeteria.”

“Now?”

“Yeah, he is waiting with others.”

“Okay, thank you,” Tokiya turned to Tomochika who immediately curved in a fake smile. “See you on the next practice, Shibuya-san. Just let me know if you need help.”

“Okay, Tokiya-kun.”

No, I don’t need you. Rather, I want to kill you.

As soon as Tokiya made his way to the cafeteria, Otoya did not waste any time to grab Tomochika by her collar.

“Otoya-kun, don’t you think this is a bit harsh?” Tomochika remarked as she tried to loosen his grab. She could feel that her chest felt tight as she was desperate for oxygen.

“Why did you stare at him like that?” The redhead asked coldly. His voice was too creepy, unlike his jolly one.  

“I just thought that your brother is handsome. That’s all.”

“Don’t lie to me, you bitch,” now, Otoya found someone that he could call the name without feeling guilty because Tomochika obviously deserved it. “Read my lips. If you try anything funny with my brother, you will pay for the consequence.”

“Your brother? Are you sure that he is only your brother? Not your crush, your object of affection or something?” Tomochika chuckled, obviously was not afraid with Otoya who was much stronger than her. “You look so obsessed with him. Care to share why? Is he your knight in shining armour or something?”

“I don’t feel the obligation to tell you,” Otoya’s voice was quivering with outrage. This girl was so fearless. She ruined his life and now, she wanted to harm his brother? He would never allow that to happen!

“Why? Because you are _truly_ obsessed with him? I can’t believe that you are limp – wristed with your own brother, Otoya-kun. Now, I get it! You rejected me because all this time you have a crush on Tokiya, not Haruka. No wonder you keep following him around like a dog,” Tomochika sneered. “You disgusting bastard.”

“You..!”

Meanwhile…

Tokiya headed for Masato who was chatting with other STARISH members in the cafeteria.

“Yes, Masa. What’s wrong?”

“What?” Masato grimaced, feeling weird to see Tokiya who came out of nowhere and asked him with such a random question.

“What do you mean by ‘what’? You wanted to meet me here, right?”

“Why would I? I feel bored to see you every day, you know. And please, don’t be so full of yourself,” Masato rolled his eyes.

“But Otoya said that you wanted to meet me,” Tokiya exclaimed in disbelief.

“I bet he just wanted to pull a prank. Glad to know that he’s back to normal,” Masato answered nonchalantly. “Come, take a seat. I already ordered your dish just in case you don’t eat yet.”

“Eh, really? But, thanks, though,” still bemused, Tokiya ended up sitting beside Masato before grabbing a rice roll.

“You really took a good care of Icchi, right, Hijirikawa?” Ren teased, ignoring Masato’s glower.

“It will be annoying if he pesters me about being starving afterward,” Masato remarked, switching on his _tsundere_ mode. 

“Where did you come from, Tokiya?” Syo asked.

“I just came back from practice with Shibuya-san. That’s when Otoya said to me that… Masato, are you sure…”

“I said, I am not!” Masato screamed now as he was fed up with Tokiya’s badger.

It can’t be… Cecil’s heart thumped fast as he was positive that Otoya was alone with Tomochika now. He excused himself before storming to the practice room.

His guess was right. As soon as he reached his destination, he was served with the sight of Otoya, slapping Tomochika. The redhead looked so scary as he continued to scowl at the girl. Cecil never thought that the sweet redhead could be that violent with a girl…

Which he internally agreed that Tomochika deserved more than a slap.

Meanwhile, the school goddess’s eyes sized up in horror. She held her red cheek as she was stunned by Otoya’s attack.

Did… Did this bastard just smack me?

“Serves you right, you bitch.”

“Otoya!” Cecil tried to butt in but was left flinched by Otoya’s death glare before the redhead left the room.

“The asshole will pay for this!! How dare him!!” Tomochika screamed like a madman. She felt her pride shattered. She felt like she had been insulted. She had never had anyone who would dare to hit her.

That Otoya!

“What did you do to touch his nerve, Tomochika?” Cecil asked coldly. Now he knew her true colour, of course, he tended to put the blame on her first.  

“Shut up! Your job is to take care of Haruka if you really wish for her to stay alive. I can hurt her whenever I please. Remember that!” Tomochika pushed Cecil away, scurrying to her dorm.

Cecil sighed heavily. He felt like dying inside.  

Everything was just a mess right now.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter 8! You will see more ‘obsession’ from Otoya but you will see more and more why he became that obsessed. Thank you for reading and please let me know what do you think about this chapter, okay? Thank you sooo much!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To incapacitate Tokiya...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter is quite long and I don't know what's wrong with my head... lol! Nevertheless, thank you for the bookmarks, kudos, and comments, guys!

I DON’T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA. I just own the plot.

**Tomochika** was gritty to incapacitate Tokiya at any cost.

She had to because when she tried to surpass him ethically, it was never an easy journey.

She always believed that she had passed as the most accomplished future idol in Saotome Academy. She got the look, talent, a mesmerizing voice and ‘vivacious’ personality.

But, because of Tokiya, because of his endowments in everything, Tomochika was treated poorly, way poorer than him. Not merely the teachers who were assigned to train them could not take their eyes off Tokiya, other students who happened to see their practices also would spread the rumour that Tomochika was an inadequate bimbo and Tokiya was too good to debut with the girl.

It was enough for Tomochika to be out for Tokiya’s blood. Just like Haruka, Tokiya was the stumbling block for her to achieve her dream.

Yet, for the time being, it was quite hazardous for her to arrange any plan to sabotage Tokiya.

Why? It was because he had his own ‘guardian angel’ which was Ichinose Otoya. Nowadays, that guy had spookily attached to his brother. He would wait for Tokiya until the guy was done with his practice and it was a torment for Tomochika to not be fretful with Otoya’s intense glare. Heck, even when Tomochika handed a glass of water to Tokiya…

The redhead would try anything to stop Tokiya from drinking it. He even pretended to accidentally spill the water onto Tokiya’s trousers and when the blue head excused himself to the toilet, Otoya would threaten her to stop whatever shitty things she wished to do.

Yet, as much as Tomochika felt intimidated by the redhead, she knew that he would not go as far as telling on her because including Cecil, three of them were aware that between Tomochika and Otoya, they had their own secrets that they desperately wanted to keep, which led them to be trapped in win-win situation.

Basically, the other person would be finished as well if one ended up telling on her or him.

But still, her greediness surpassed her fright towards Otoya. Her greediness swayed her to come up with plans to ruin Tokiya.

But, first of all, she had to plan something so that Otoya would never get nearer to Tokiya. After that, when Tokiya was left unprotected, she would not have any problem to bring him down.

But, how? How would she make it worked?

As Tomochika was being spaced out, ignoring her classmates’ brouhaha, her eyes were served with the sight of Tokiya, walking with Masato which later went back to class. You could see how friendly they were to each other but the more attention-grabbing part of this drama was…

Otoya. Sitting at his desk, Tomochika could see that Otoya was envious of Masato. It became more palpable when as soon as Masato took a seat, Otoya wasted no time to pester him. Tomochika could not hear their conversation well but she was positive that Otoya was asking about where Masato and Tokiya headed from. 

Masato, Masato, Masato, she mentally repeated the name like a mantra. She could feel the sudden exhilaration, just from hearing the name in her head because evidently, the guy could help her in completing her plan.

Something brilliant crossed her mind out of the blue.

‘Masato’ would be the first step for her to take.

He might not be as useful as her minion aka Cecil, but she knew she could use Masato to her own advantage.

* * *

 

 **“Tokiya,**  your sushi is here!” Masato shouted from the door as Tokiya and Tomochika were resting after their practices.

 _“Hai, hai,”_  Tokiya beamed as he ran towards the poker-faced Masato.

These two never failed to impress me… In an outrageous way, Tomochika mentally commented. Masato even cooked a bento for him. Just what the heck?  

Previously, Tomochika used to bump into them chatting away a few times and frankly speaking, it made her stomach heaved. Masato behaved like a typical wife; blabbering on Tokiya who acted childishly at Otoya aka the dude who happened to make the ‘love triangle’ looked more scandalous. But, on the dark side, Masato was willing enough to be a maid or slave to Tokiya. Whenever the vocalist had a problem, Masato looked like he would lose his life to help him.

While Tokiya… Yes, he was not as impeccable as he looked. His voice sounded annoying when he whined (he should use that voice so that Tomochika would eclipse him and debut as a soloist instead). He acted like a spoiled brat who basically perceived Masato as his male mother. He pestered Masato around, hugged him when he got excited and he would only look for Masato whenever he wanted somebody’s company.

But, she never thought that their friendship would be nifty for her next plan.

“Dig in, Shibuya-san! His sushi is very exceptional,” Tokiya exclaimed as he pushed the lunch box towards Tomochika, encouraging the girl to grab one _._

Yeah, of course, a husband will love his wife’s cooking, she took the  _sushi_  before taking a small bite.

Yes, this is so delicious!

“You are right. This is so delicious,” now, she did not hold back from eating more sushi. “You sure are close to Masato-kun, right?”

“Yes. Basically, I cannot live without him,” Tokiya answered cheerfully, sending Tomochika to choke on her food. “Eh, Shibuya-san? Are you okay?” Tokiya quickly gave a glass of water to her.

 “I… I am okay,” she gulped it down before stroking her chest.

You see? They are gay!

“It’s just that… You guys are that close, huh?”

“Yup. We had become close friends since ten years ago and I must say that he is the best friend I never could find anywhere. He may look over caring, fussy and easy to feel annoyed but in fact, he is just a cute little brother in my eyes.”

“What? A cute little brother?”

What the… Are they playing brother shits now?

Tokiya grinned. “Yeah. Ten years ago, we were positive that Masato was younger than me so he used to call me  _‘oni-chan’_. I don’t know. Maybe because I was much taller than him before while he… He was so adorable and short back then so it was bound to happen that way. Once we knew that we are actually the same age, Masato was dumbfounded and refused to call me  _‘oni-chan’_  anymore. He found it mortifying so I started to treat him like my best friend instead.”

“So, basically, just like Otoya-kun, Masato-kun is like your little brother?”

“Yeah, even I never say it out loud.”

“So, if you don’t have Otoya-kun around, Masato-kun will accompany you, right?”

“Yeah. You can say that.”

Tomochika averted her gaze towards another direction, concealing her grin.

A winning grin. She was happy that Masato was in here, in this story. The scion would be her advantage to get rid of Tokiya. 

I win, Otoya. You will be expelled from this school in no time while me... There is no way I will let myself be the one who will be blamed for.    

* * *

 

 **So,**  a few days later, after they wrapped up their daily practice and making sure that Tokiya was still walking along the hall, Tomochika called a kid from C class who would be willing enough to be the scapegoat.

Why? Because they are from a poverty-stricken family who desperately needed money for paying their family’s debt instantly and at the same time, they were the rarest students who gave up on their dreams because they thought that they were not talented enough. So all she had to do was manipulating them into believing that money and her body are more important in this situation. Tomochika was well-off enough to pay them while those three boys were willing to put their life on the line. She had to do this much because she would never risk herself to sabotage Tokiya when Otoya was practically everywhere to protect his brother. Her covetousness just got the best of her.

And she never thought that the fact that Otoya had been creepy nowadays, talking to himself when he was alone, crying and laughing at the same time would come in handy for her plan.

 “ _Moshi – moshi._  Where are you? Good. Our practice is over so please do a good job if you want the pay. I will make it double if you knock him out.”

About six hours later, she knew that her fall guys did do a splendiferous job. It was already twelve at midnight but Tokiya was still not in his dorm while his friends, teachers and security guards desperately looked for him around the school.

* * *

 

 **“Tokiya!**  Tokiya!” Masato did not even bother to hide his fear as like others, he searched the said blue head around the school since an hours ago. For the first time in everyone’s life, his face turned so pallid that he would pass out any second if he did not find Tokiya.

“Tokiya!”

“Hijirikawa, you better stop worrying too much! It doesn’t make the situation any better,” his roommate, Ren held his shoulder, trying to make him subsided even he could understand the scion for being beside himself. They had been looking around in almost every space in the school but to no avail. The blue head’s phone was unanswered so Masato was positive that his best friend got into a hot water.

“But usually, he will call me if he doesn’t return to dorm soon! He never disappeared like this, Jinguuji!” Masato’s raucous voice attracted other students to eavesdrop on their conversation as they thought that it was droll that compared to Otoya who is Tokiya’s brother, Masato was much more alarmed and could not pull himself together.

They are  _that_  close, huh? Maybe that was what everyone thought.

“Yeah but still, you have to settle down. Of course, we still don’t know where he is but…”

“I have a bad feeling about this, Jinguuji. A very bad feeling. I the past repeats itself again… If there are bullies who are jealous of him and clobber him…” Masato leaned against the nearest door, coaxing himself that he should stop thinking the worst. Tokiya would appear any soon and laugh at him for being that anxious.

Wow, he even had an instinct about Tokiya… Like a married couple, they all thought suspiciously.  

“As if! Who will be in their right mind to hit our Icchi just because they cannot outdo him? It’s not like he is a skank for being so talented, right?” Ren denied Masato’s exaggerated but somehow-might-be-reasonable guess as an attempt to make the scion and himself feeling better.

Yet, he knew Masato just ignored him when the pianist’s eyes suddenly sized up before turning behind, pressing his ear edgily against the locked up door.

Come to think of it, this room stores broken furniture, right?     

“What’s wrong, Hijirikawa?” Ren could not help but join the blue head.

“I thought I heard someone calling my name… It might be Tokiya…”

“Hijirikawa, please… You are not making any sense…”  

“Masato, help me…”

“There it was!” Both Ren and Masato shouted simultaneously, attracting Hyuga Ryuya, the S class homeroom teacher to head for them.

“What’s wrong?” The crowd slowly formed around them with Hyuga in the middle.

“We just heard somebody’s voice in there…” Ren answered. 

“Tokiya? Tokiya, is that you?” Masato thumped the door impatiently, believing that his best friend was there before receiving a screeching sound from a chair, probably as an answer.  

“Just wait there, Tokiya! We are going to save you, okay?” He turned to the still confused Hyuga and other students who most probably thought that he was just being in delusion after losing his friend for a few hours.

“ _Sensei_ , I am positive that Tokiya is here. I heard his voice just now,” he informed, battling between a relief and apprehension. “Jinguuji, can you please call the security guard to unlock this room?”

“Okay,” Ren excused himself before pulling out his phone, calling a security guard to come to the rescue.

The guard was faster to take action. The mid-forty-year-olds man was perplexed to be informed that there was a student trapped in the deserted room when the key was with him the whole time and the room had not been used since two years ago.

Or it was not?

Hyuga was convinced that somebody stole the key and locked Tokiya up.

It was planned.  

As soon as the door was unlocked, they were served with the sight of a mounting pile of damaged desks and chairs and…

Tokiya, sitting on a chair with his unkempt body tied to it. His eyes were covered with a green cloth while his mouth was bloodstained.

It was enough to make everyone gasped in horror including Hyuga. The next thing they realized was Masato quickly untied Tokiya, followed by Natsuki and Syo.

“Masa…” Tokiya collapsed into Masato’s arms as soon as his weak body was disentangled from those ropes.

Masato brushed his friend’s fringe away, revealing a couple of bruises on his face. “It’s okay. You are safe now… Please, stay awake. We will bring you to the health centre right now. Shinomiya, help me.”

 _“Hai,”_  given that his frame was big and well-built, that was bound to happen for Natsuki. He quickly lifted Tokiya up with the blue head’s arm around his shoulder. “Don’t shut your eyes, Tokiya-kun. They will cure you and you will be fine.”

His vision was too blurry while his head spun even they had arrived in the health centre. Tokiya really had no idea why the culprits attacked him. They suddenly pulled him into the room and mercilessly kicked and punched him until he passed out. The next thing he realized after he came to himself was he was tied up to a chair and left alone. His body was enervated and while he tried to shout, that was only he realized that they attacked his neck as well. It felt too painful and when he heard Masato’s anxious voice out there which was a marvel for him, considering he was trapped in the most deserted area in the academy, he tried his best to make sounds so that anybody out there would hear him.  

Meanwhile…

Otoya, who was looking for Tokiya in the second floor with another group was informed by Syo that his brother was eventually found.

“Really? Thank God,” to say that he was relieved was an understatement. In fact, he felt that he just regained his life. “So, how was he? Is he alright?”

“No, not really. It seemed like somebody just hit him until he passed out and could not make it to the dorm. He was even tied to a chair so that he couldn’t escape and now, Hijirikawa and Natsuki are sending him for the treatment.”

What on earth is going on? The redhead could not help but feel a throbbing anger flew through his veins.

With a shaking hand, Otoya ignored the confused Syo who called his name since he was being quiet all of sudden before ending the call. He dialed another number, desperately hoped that he could talk and tick the person off but to no avail.

He was positive that the  _vixen_  was the mastermind of this dirty trick.

Yet, Otoya was not aware that after being informed about Tokiya’s condition, Cecil, hiding somewhere in the midst of the search, was yelling at the vixen which was the cause for his attempt to talk to the person failed.

“You are too much, Tomochika! You promised me that all I need to do is protecting Haruka but why did you lay about Tokiya instead!? What kind of bullshit…”

“You better watch your mouth, Aijima Cecil. It’s already past twelve and I believe that you are aware enough that you are disrupting my sleep…” Her voice was raspy from weariness but of course, Cecil was too agitated to let her have a beautiful sleep after what she had done to Tokiya.

“I don’t give a damn about your sleep, you whore! My friend is injured here and I am not going to let it slide! Not after what you had done to Otoya!” Cecil exploded.

 “Said a scaredy-cat who can’t even tell on me because he is afraid that his future as an idol will destroy,” Tomochika chuckled sardonically and that was enough for Cecil to punch the wall. It was hurt but nothing hurt more than the fact Tomochika was this cold-blooded. “Plus, do you have any evidence that I was the one who assailed Tokiya? It’s not nice to blindly accuse somebody like that, Cecil-chan. You should know that your friend is somebody famous here. Anyone can be his enemy.”

Cecil bit his lips, struggling to not bring himself to trespass on the girl’s dorm so that he could choke her to death. He should believe in his hunch back then. He should have stopped Tomochika to get friendly with his friends including Haruka before what had happened now twisted their fate around.

“I guess you don’t, right? You can try to bring me down but you will never make it worked, Cecil. Because why? Even I did do that, you don’t have the evidence. If Tokiya is bound to die because someone tries to kill him, I will just express my condolences to Otoya, get over it and the next thing I know is the winner of graduation audition is me and I will debut as a soloist instead.”

“You goddamn bitch! You are such a…”

“Yeah, call me whatever you want but the most important thing now is I am…” The girl yawned derisively, “I am so sleepy right now so I am going to hang up. Don’t worry. Whatever shits that you spat at me just now would be our secret. I won’t kill your beloved Haruka because of that. Okay, Cecil-chan. Byeeee. Good night.”

When she said she would not kill Haruka because of those insults from Cecil, the Agnapolis prince knew that she would do the opposite one. She just warned him to behave.

Cecil threw his phone at the wall. Expectedly, it broke but his heart broke more while his body sank down to the floor. He hugged his knees, thinking deeply about his future and his friends.

Haruka, should I just tell on that whore?

* * *

 

 **“God,** I never thought that I would witness this kind of assault. I thought that it only happened in  _manga_ ,” Syo commented as he observed Tokiya’s bruised torso up to the vocalist’s face.

“They even hit your neck. Evidently, they wanted to ruin your voice,” Ren supplied. His eyes still glued to Tokiya’s injured neck while expressing sympathy to the blue head.

Tokiya shrugged, did not want to presume anything. Here he was, sitting on his bed with a still confused head and pasty face, which was expected since he basically lived his life like an abducted victim a few hours ago. Not only he got himself a medical certificate, he was advised to not talk much since his throat was still in pain and he needed it for his vocal training. 

“There are a lot of bruises. Who in the right mind would do such thing?” Natsuki asked seriously. For a second, he sounded like Satsuki, sending others to glance at him several times nervously.

While Cecil and Masato were awfully quiet even their throats were just doing fine. But, anybody could tell that they were still overwhelmed by what had happened to Tokiya.

“We thought that you are going to die, you know?” Syo insensitively remarked, caused Masato to clench both his fists.

“I was afraid if they ended up cutting your tongue so that you will be permanently speech-impaired or stabbed you to death,” Natsuki supplied with his still serious tone.

“Yeah, that also can do,” Ren added before finding himself flinched with others as soon as the snapped Masato suddenly stood up from his chair.  

“STOP THROWING UNNECESSARY COMMENTS WON’T YOU!? THINKING THAT HE IS GOING TO DIE SOON IS NOT GOING TO HEAL HIM!” Masato yelled like an angry nanny. He almost lost his breath because he thought that something disastrous had happened to Tokiya so when he found that Tokiya was  _really_  in disaster, he did not need any side characters reminded them about the possibility of Tokiya being dead. “SO, WHY DON’T YOU GUYS JUST SHUT THE F…”

“Masa, please don’t swear. It doesn’t suit you,” Tokiya suddenly remarked with a very hoarse voice as he held Masato’s shoulder, attempting to stop the scion from literally turning into a lion.

“I believe the doctor said that you should never speak, right?” Masato reminded his best friend sternly even deep inside, he felt upset to hear how terrible Tokiya’s voice sounded.

“But I can’t help it when you were about to swear.”

“Tsk, say someone who would swear every time he was angry,” Masato rolled his eyes. “But still, Tokiya… Don’t you think they are being mean for saying something like that?”

“Okay, fineee. We will never mention anything overdramatic like that again so please don’t be overdramatic yourself,” Syo rolled his eyes. “Just calm the hell down, won’t you?”

“You guys don’t understand. If there’s something happens to Tokiya, I will…” Masato stopped in the middle, reminding himself that he just made his relationship with Tokiya sounded suspicious when in fact, Tokiya is his dearest friend that he never wanted to lose.

It was a silence as the rest of STARISH members stared at Masato, expected him to complete his words.

“You will…?” Natsuki raised his eyebrow, being unaware of Tokiya who silently and slowly wrote something on a notebook before showing it to them with his complacent face.

_‘He basically cannot live without me.’_

“YOU…!” Masato’s eyes widened in horror, sending others to laugh at his comical reaction. “Now you are safe, you can even make that smug face, huh?”

 Tokiya smirked like he just won a trophy.

 “Then, I think you guys can go back to your room. I am sure Tokiya needs to sleep,” Masato suggested, gaining himself a ‘what about you? Should you go back to your room as well?’ look from them.

“When Otoya comes back, I will go back to my room,” he sighed impatiently.

These nosy parkers…

“Well, then. Just tell us if you need anything, Tokiya,” Syo offered before leading others to leave the room.

It was a pregnant silence as Masato eyed them to make sure that they closed the door and left right away so that he could tell Tokiya that he could start…

“They already left. You can…”

Tokiya suddenly had his head sank lower before it landed on the edge of Masato’s knee. He sobbed shortly after that as his hand held his bandaged shoulder.

He could tell Tokiya that he could start sobbing now.

“I know. It must be hurt, right?” Masato stroked his shoulder, attempting to calm Tokiya down. It must be tough for the vocalist to bear the pain and the urge to cry in front of others at the same time. Because of his flawless image, he was not even allowed to cry when it was so hurt because he would not look manly and perfect.

Yet, he could not resist himself from crying in front of Masato who was familiar enough with his crybaby side.

Tokiya pointed at his neck before grimacing with his watery eyes.

“Yeah, I can see that,” Masato stared at the injured spots. “Now, stop crying. Take a rest.”

Tokiya suddenly raised his three fingers before forming a C shape, much to the scion’s shock.

“Do you mean three people attacked you and they are from C class?” Masato guessed.

Tokiya slowly nodded.

“Tokiya, I already called daddy and…” It was a coincidence when Otoya got into the room but only found that he was ignored. Instead, those blue heads were too engrossed in their own drama when Tokiya suddenly revealed the ‘plot twist’.

“But just now, you said to  _sensei_  that you could not see their faces! What’s with this sudden confession!?” Since he could not contain his surprise, Masato could not help but yell at his confusing friend, sending Tokiya to hush him desperately.

Otoya who quickly could read the situation slowly shut the door. Their conversation suddenly piqued his curiosity.  

“What do you mean ‘not so loud, Masato’? Are you trying to save the culprits from being punished? I guessed they even hit your head with the broken chair so that’s why you acted dim-witted like this!”

Eh? They even can understand each other this way? Otoya mentally commented.  

Tokiya flinched before looking down like a child who was scolded by his mother. It amazed Otoya how obedient his brother looked right now even he could relate to him when Masato, again, was in the process of turning himself into a lion. Tokiya looked at Masato again, generating a baffling set of gestures.

But, it seemed like it was not challenging enough for Masato to understand because his fair-skinned face quickly turned red.

“Who cares if they are from poor family and they used to learn acting from you? Are you going to sympathize with those kinds of jerks just because they looked sincere when they wanted to enhance their skills? No, I will not allow that to happen! They must be punished! Now, tell me who they are so I can punch their necks as well. Tell me!” Masato rolled up his sleeves, sending his best friend’s eyes sized up in terror while raising his hands higher, attempting to calm the scion down before wincing in pain afterward.

As soon as Tokiya mouthed ‘but’, he met eyes with the perplexed Otoya, sending Masato to avert his gaze to the redhead.   

“Oh, Otoya! You are here,” that was enough for Masato to cool down. “So, what did Kazuki  _ojisan_  say?”

“Eh? Well, he wanted Tokiya to rest at home,” Otoya answered, sending Tokiya to shake his head.

“What? Do you still want to be mulish even in this kind of circumstance? Should I break your leg then only you will rest at home peacefully?” This time, Masato’s menacing glower was not enough to scare the vocalist. Instead, he kept giving ambiguous gestures that only Masato could understand.

 Otoya could not help but feel somehow left out here.

“Then, should I beat you to coma instead?” Masato scoffed. His threat somehow turned more blood-curdling since his best friend was still being obstinate. “Look who’s talking! I am sure Otoya will understand your situation. He’s your brother for goodness’ sake!”

“Since I am his brother, can you tell me what are you guys talking about?” Otoya interrupted as he could not stand to be the only one who could not catch the conversation.

“This idiot wanted to stay here because he promised you to help you with your singing,” Masato explained while crossing his arms, still looking daggers at Tokiya.

“Ehhh, why would you, Tokiya!? I can handle that, you know? Resting at home will be safer,” Otoya remarked, gaining himself a charismatic nod from Masato.

But, with a long face, Tokiya tried to write his thought again since he was not convinced that Otoya would understand him.

“No need. Your fingers are still hurting,” Masato snatched the notebook away, ignoring Tokiya’s upset look. “This idiot said that he will be fine and he will help you in your room instead.”

“Oh…” Otoya was too speechless to respond. He did feel touched by Tokiya’s kindness but…  

At the same time, he totally admired their friendship. They are so attached to each other to the point of they even could tell what the other person thinks. He could not help but feeling the jealousy that he had curbed all this time or to be exact, for ten years, emerging itself.  

That was when he noticed that…

“Thank you but why are your eyes red and watery? Did you cry?” He pointed at Tokiya’s blue eyes.

“No,” the blue heads answered in unison, not being aware that it just made Otoya felt more left out.

You even cried in front of Masato, Tokiya. Only in front of him.

“You… You want something to eat? I will make it for you,” Masato asked Tokiya awkwardly as an attempt to avoid the question about Tokiya’s red eyes.

His question was enough to make Tokiya’s dull eyes brightened up.

“No need to be dramatic, Tokiya. Your daddy will interrogate me if you die because of starvation. Not because I care about you,” Masato remarked, forgetting the fact about who was all frantic when searching for the blue head a few hours ago.

Tokiya  just moved his fingers while smiling brightly at the thought of the food in his head.

“Okay, then. I will make it real fast. Just don’t move and be a nice boy.”

Tokiya replied ‘okay’ with his fingers.

Otoya clenched his fist.

No wonder Tokiya prefers Masa to me. He always understands what Tokiya needs without him telling it out loud. Why can’t I be more alert about that?

“Then, I will help Masato,” he offered.

“Yeah. It will be a great help, Otoya,” Masato acknowledged.

* * *

 

 **As** soon as they arrived in the kitchen, Otoya just stood there, staring miserably at Masato as the scion was busy gathering up all ingredients needed for Tokiya’s food.

“Otoya, can you pass me the saucepan on your left?”

“Yeah, sure,” he replied as he grabbed a saucepan in the cupboard before bringing it to Masato. “Here.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he stared curiously at those ingredients which consisted of kombu, bonito flakes, tofu et cetera. “ _Ne,_  Masa…”

“Yes?”

“Just what Tokiya asked you to do?” His innocent question sent the scion to chuckle.

“Oh, that… He gave such an ambiguous request, right? No wonder you look clueless,” Masato began to place kombu and water into the saucepan. “He wanted to eat the special Kyoto soup that my butler taught me.”

“It may sound ambiguous but you understood him perfectly, Masa,” Otoya exclaimed in awe.

“It can’t be helped. If you always end up being the one who nurses him when he is sick, you will somehow get used to it.”

“How am I supposed to get used to it when he always asks your help instead of mine?” Otoya murmured.

“What did you say?”

“Nah, nothing,” he quickly denied as he realized that he had been small-minded. “By the way, did Tokiya cry just now?”

“Why are you curious about that?” Masato chuckled. He still found it amusing for Tokiya, the brave guy who was not terrified of ghost to be wimpy about bruises over his body.

“It’s just that you guys suddenly said ‘no’ when it’s obvious he has puffy eyes…”

“Yes, he cried,” Masato admitted nonchalantly as he continued stirring the bonito flakes. “But you know how Tokiya is not allowed to cry because he has to put up with the stupidly flawless image, right? So that’s why he kept insisting that he did not feel hurt when it hurt him as hell.”

“But he cried in front of you.”

“Well, I think that’s because he is just way too comfortable around me so that’s why he acted shamelessly…”

“You call him shameless but you are actually happy that Tokiya tends to rely on you, right?”

“Yeah, of course…” Masato reluctantly agreed as he remembered that he had created his own melodramatic scene just now. “Because yeah… I may not look like it but I see Tokiya as my brother rather than my friend. Of course, it feels good since I don’t have a brother to begin with. I enjoy it when he counts on me in everything. I owed him in many things, though.”

“So, it seems like both of us really love Tokiya, right?”

“Hmm… I don’t think we can use ‘love’ here with that dude…” Masato still found it weird to acknowledge the feeling. 

“But, our life will be basically over if he’s gone, right?”

“Yeah, you can say that,” this time, Masato could not agree more with Otoya. He could not imagine his life without Tokiya around. It would be harrowing.

“But, between two of us, Tokiya has spent more time with you, right?” This time, Masato was convinced that Otoya sounded frustrated.

“Hmm? Do you mean… Since the accident?” Masato carefully blurted out his words. “Despite that, I believe, Tokiya will rather spend his time with you since you are his brother. You guys have grown up under the same roof and with the same parents. I might be his close friend but since you guys live together, you guys will enjoy each other’s time more.”

Much to Masato’s bewilderment, his words just made Otoya formed a very bitter smile.

“That’s how it’s supposed to be but unfortunately for ten years, it never happened… Instead, his life revolved around you, Masa.”

“Otoya, what are you implying …” Masato’s eyes sized up as soon as he looked at Otoya.

The redhead was crying.

 “Otoya, what gives? Why are you suddenly crying like this?” Masato turned off the stove before stroking Otoya’s shoulder, indirectly saying to the redhead that he was there for him and he could always rely on him.

“I can’t stand with this…” The tears dropped but it quickly welled up in his eyes. “All I want is to get chummy again with my brother. I followed your advice, Masa. I helped him. I never thought that it became so twisted like this. I never thought that it became completely wrong…”

“Otoya, what happened before was completely forgotten. Tokiya already forgave you and he started treating you well again, right? You should be happy with that but…” Masato stared at the redhead out of perplexity. “What do you mean by ‘twisted’ and ‘completely wrong’? Is there something that still bothering your mind? Or to be exact, is there something  _really_ happened before we found you at the building?”

“I am sorry but I can’t tell you that,” Otoya refused as he shook his head in horror. “Since Tokiya started to treat me well, I become more horrified if he knows the truth. If he knows, it will overwhelm him. I don’t want him to suffer again. Not after he lost mummy because of me…”

“What are you talking about, Otoya?” Masato was this close to losing his patience. “If you can’t let him know, can you at least tell me so that I can help you…”

“No, nobody can help me. It’s too late,” Masato never saw Otoya becoming this despondent before. “Nothing can be changed…. No matter how hard we try… But Masa, there is another thing that I want to you to help me.”

“What? What is it? Just tell me, Otoya… I will…” Masato’s eyes lightened up as he still stood a chance to lend his hand to Otoya.

“Starting from tomorrow, I want you to stay away from Tokiya. I want to spend the rest of my time with him. I don’t want you between us. Please, Masa…”

The request sounded vindictive at first glance but Masato was quick to notice.

“What do you mean with ‘the rest of my time’?”

“Please, Masa…” Otoya urged as he grabbed the other’s arms. “And please, after that, you will stay beside Tokiya no matter what because I know, he will need you the most. Don’t let him all by himself. Please, Masa…”

Masato was thunderstruck. He realized that he could not make Otoya spilled the bean but he knew, he could trust Otoya.

After all, what they both wanted was the best thing for Tokiya.

“Can you do that, Masa?”

“Yes, I can.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that's all for chapter nine! I quite love those aggressive characters like Tomo, Masato, and Cecil here and I must say that I am so excited to see the last chapter published here because I already have the first draft of the rest of the chapters on my laptop. I just wish that I am hardworking and motivated enough to check the grammar and update frequently. As usual, feel free to tell me what the heck is wrong with this chapter.. lol XD


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A detention...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and comments, guys! ^^

DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA. I only own the plot.

**A** few days later…

Deciding to disregard Tokiya’s decision to not give away the culprits’ identities, Masato and Otoya did not waste time to inform it to the teachers so that they would come down on them. Their assertion gave a big help to the recording from CCTV since they could spot three-suspicious looking students around the guard shack (probably to steal the keys so that they could lock Tokiya up) and after gathering ample amount of witness’ statements, those three attackers were meant to be punished.

Yet, the most trying part was to make them owning up to the grounds of their assault.   

“For the last time, you guys… Don’t waste our time and spit it out already!” Hyuga Ryuya ultimately snapped at the trio. Normally, everybody would be daunted, enough by his infamous glares and buff frame but this time around, he even needed to go as far as bellowing at them.

And yet…

Toru, a son of a single mother still put on an infuriatingly poker face all the time. His black eyes wandered around the principal’s room as if Shining Saotome and Hyuga Ryuya were not even there. 

His friend, Rei, was staring at Hyuga daringly. His expression seemingly pestered the teacher to punish them as soon as possible if that would make him satisfied.

And the last one was Gai who according to Tokiya, was C class’s the most top-notch student when it comes to acting. But, now only Hyuga knew that Tokiya was right. Evidently, Gai was adroit enough to provoke the teacher or Saotome so that they would jump down his throat by smirking the whole time

These were the faces that no teachers had ever thought that one day, they would be charged for attacking a student. Previously, they never defied any academy’s rules, let alone to act like some thugs who would beat others for spice.  

“You guys have shown the bad example to other students because when you are being tight-lipped like this, it showed that you guys didn’t have any motive to attack Ichinose. Is that true? Is it that hilarious to mess him up until he had to be absent from school? Is it that amusing to ruin somebody’s future by attacking his throat when you guys know that he needs his voice the most? And yet, he still forgave you and the fact that you guys are here is not because he told on you guys. Somebody did apparently. He even pitied you guys because he is aware of your family background.”

This time, they showed a slightly shocked expression which Hyuga was convinced that they were somehow remorseful for their offence.

Yet, that was not enough to make them talked.    

Outside of the principal’s room, Otoya was eavesdropping intently as he tried to digest the interrogation but it did not sound clear enough.

“Why the hell didn’t they say anything?” He muttered impatiently.

“Oto-kun!”

Otoya flinched as Ringo’s stern voice hit his ears. He turned around, feeling slightly nervous to see the teacher’s reaction.

“Are you trying to eavesdrop on them?” Much to his surprise, Ringo just smiled benevolently at him.

“Well, I…” Seeing the soft look on the beautiful face, Otoya felt more at ease to share what he thought with Ringo. “Yes, I am. Since they beat my brother…”

“Yeah, I understand. It must be hard to see your family in that kind of state when he did nothing wrong,” Ringo supplied as he held a few files closer to his chest. “But, so far, they did not want to confess why they did that to Tokiya-chan. It seemed they were made to be tight-lipped about it.”

Someone occurred to Otoya the moment Ringo said ‘they were made to be tight-lipped’.

Shibuya Tomochika!

* * *

 

**“Auchh!!”** Tomochika screamed in pain as Otoya suddenly threw her to the wall. As usual, they always ended up ‘discussing’ in a deserted practice room, far from everybody else.

“That’s hurt, you dumbass!”

“Oh, yeah? How about this?” Otoya swung his hand before slapping her again. It looked like he was possessed by a demon.

“Otoya, stop!” And as expected, Cecil was there, seemingly defending Tomochika but in reality, only three of them knew the truth. “If you exploded because you think that she has anything to do with what happened to Tokiya, just forget it. I already questioned her but this bitch never admitted it. I assumed that maybe she paid them with something that they really needed and that’s why those guys were too hard-headed to tell the truth.”

“Who are you calling bitch, Aijima Cecil?” The light purple eyes darkened with burning rage when she expected Cecil to protect her from Otoya. “Just remember, Cecil. If you stand up for Tokiya, Haruka is…”

“So, that’s how you are going to play, huh!? That’s how you are you going to play!?” Otoya grabbed the girl’s collar before strangling her. “You will victimize either Nanami or Tokiya in your game!! What the hell is wrong with you!?”

“I hate them! They deserve to be destroyed…”

“What!?”

“Otoya, let her go! If you get violent like this, it looks like you just accused her without solid evidence and you will be in a serious trouble for that. Just calm the hell down and go back to class, won’t you?”

And that was when the situation could not get any worse.

“What the hell are you guys doing, huh!?” Hyuga and Ringo were standing just in front of the door, crossed their arms while looking all pissed off.

In this situation, anybody could assume that Otoya and Cecil or either one of them were the one who attacked Tomochika. With her red cheek from being slapped, disheveled hair and school attire and crying face, she was the obvious victim here.

* * *

 

**“Are** you okay, Tomo-chan?” Ringo softly applied the icy cloth on the said girl’s swollen cheek.

“I am okay,” every time the girl winced in pain, it took all for Otoya to not hurt her more since she deserved it.

She had ruined his life. She was the one who asked for it so she really looked spiteful now when she ended up playing victim in this situation. She could sit comfortably and cry all day in Ringo’s arms while he and Cecil…

They were standing in front of Hyuga Ryuya’s desk, ready to be verbally attacked by the fierce teacher.

“Can anyone explain to me just what the hell happened over there?”

“I slapped her,” Otoya replied, surprisingly quick and somehow looked proud of his ‘achievement’. “I also strangled her. Cecil had nothing to do with this. He was there because he tried to protect her.”

“Or to be exact, I don’t want him to be punished if he had been too much. It didn’t mean that I tried to protect her,” Cecil explained, much to the teachers’ puzzlement. Hyuga exchanged looks with his colleague, indirectly asking about their relationship with Tomochika.

“They are supposed to be good friends,” Cecil and Otoya had to restrain themselves from rolling their eyes as Ringo answered Hyuga.

Good friends, my foot!

“They have been close since the first year, together with Haru-chan, Ma-kun and Nat-chan.”

“We love to have Haruka as our friend because she is humble. That bitch… I mean Tomochika just happened to join us because she is supposed to be Haruka’s friend,” Cecil explained. It was disgusting to admit the fact that Tomochika was their friend to the point of he could not even lie, even to the teachers.

 “Did you just call her ‘bitch’, Aijima?” Hyuga’s voice turned creepy but it did not intimidate Cecil even for the slightest bit.

“Yes, I did.”

“Why?”

“Because she is not humble like Haruka.”

Ringo and Hyuga sighed heavily and almost simultaneously. They knew that Nanami Haruka was too nice with everyone. Despite being talented, she was self-effacing, contrasted with Tomochika who was outgoing and vivacious. Well, Tomochika really had to possess those personality traits because she was going to be an idol after all.

 “So, that’s why you guys are being mean to Shibuya? Did you hit her because she is not humble like Nanami, Ichinose?” Hyuga asked as he looked daggers at Otoya. “I didn’t know that Ichinose family member has this violent side. Let alone you.”

Swear to God, that bitch is the first person that I have ever hit in my life, _sensei_. And for a solid reason, Otoya mentally answered.

But in this situation, there was no way they could tell that Tomochika was the one who ordered the guys to beat Tokiya.

Without risking Otoya’s secret to be revealed as well.

“Please talk to us! Don’t waste our time! We got your brother’s case to handle and you, Ichinose, you should know more than everyone that this is not the right time to attack a girl,” Hyuga was this close to beat those two students who used to be really well-behaved. “Fine. If you guys don’t want to talk, let me guess instead. By any chance, did you guys try to… Rape her?”

“No!” The three classmates shouted right away but with different tones. It seemed Hyuga was successful in luring them to give the game away.

Cecil looked disgusted to meet the girl’s eyes so to think that he was assumed that he wanted to rape the girl was…

Impossible and downright outrageous. He knew he was not a saint but Tomochika would never make it to his list if he was bound to be a serial rapist.

Tomochika was so disgusting in his eyes.

While Otoya… He felt like he was affronted by Hyuga. Yes, he knew that hitting a fragile girl with full energy was malicious but he would not go as far as sexually attacked her in order to avenge on her.

Not to mention this was Tomochika that they were talking about. The girl who he had sworn that he would never let her off.

As for Tomochika, she made herself sounded fraught because she had another plan to gain herself sympathy from Hyuga and Ringo.

“No, Hyuga _sensei_! They… They did not try to rape me. There was no way they… They would try to do something like that. It’s just that…” She pretended to stutter, showing that she felt guilty to confess.

“Just say it, Shibuya!” Hyuga exploded.

“They just care about Tokiya-kun too much so…” Her lips shivered but God knew how she was laughing arrogantly inside for possessing such a great acting skill. “They assumed that I paid the C class students to beat Tokiya-kun because I did not want to be compared with him…”

“You really did, you bitch!” Otoya suddenly snapped and it took all for Cecil to stop from attacking Tomochika again. “You are just a loser who has an insane inferiority complex with Nanami and Tokiya! Why don’t you just kill yourself and go to hell instead!?”

“Ichinose, another attempt to hit her, I will not hesitate to bring this case to the principal and we will talk about your future in this school.”

That was enough to make Otoya getting a grip.

“Do you guys have any evidence that she was the mastermind of the attack?”

No answer.

“I guess that you guys just blindly accused her, right?” The teacher sneered. “You know how bad can it be when you accuse someone without a proof? Not only it will ruin her image but if she is proved innocent, you guys will be punished and lose respect from others. You guys are going to be an idol. An idol who will be loved and treasured by many people. But if this is the attitude that you are going to show us, we will be very disappointed because you will never survive in the real showbiz. It’s not even a joke. Once you make a sin, people will not forgive you easily, you cannot get a job and the worst thing that can happen is you will be kicked out from idol industry.”

“I taught you guys for almost three years now and I know how well-behaved you guys are. I still cannot believe that you guys can be this cruel to a girl, let alone to your friend,” they had never seen Ringo looked that upset until today.

Otoya and Cecil knew that both teachers were being nice to them. He wanted them to not waste this hard-to-get-chance in order to pursue their dreams but…

They could not care less about their future as an idol. After what had happened that night, their future was finished. 

“ _Sensei,_ it’s okay. I think that they are just emotionally overwhelmed with what happened to Tokiya-kun. I can relate to them. If my friend is assaulted maliciously like that, I also cannot stand doing nothing. I will fight for him.”

It took all for both the boys to not smack the girl. Apparently, she knew how to anger them by talking way _too_ much.  

Nobody asked her opinion but she just talked too much.

“So, are you saying that you forgive them even they hurt you, Shibuya?” Hyuga was obviously amazed at the girl’s ‘kind heart’.

“Yes, I do. They are my friends so I know how they usually behave. They are sweet guys who treasure everyone around them so it was normal for them to act reckless when Tokiya-kun was attacked mercilessly like that.”

Ringo stroked her long hair as she smiled proudly at his student. “You are such a kind person, Tomo-chan.”

“I am not your freaking friend, you bitch,” Cecil muttered, enough for Tomochika and Ringo to hear. His hands shivered from being clutched too much.

“Who do you think you are? Who are you to forgive us!?” Otoya on the other hand was more vocal in expressing his indignation.  

“Just stop with that attitude, Ichinose, Aijima!” Hyuga’s outburst was enough to calm them down. “I am so sick of this! Just so you know, you both are lucky because she already forgave you when she didn’t have to. So, to thank her, I want you guys to apologize to her right now.”

“What!?” The friends could not help but shouting in disbelief. Being treated like some thugs was not enough and now they had to apologize to her? Shibuya Tomochika? No!

It was the worst feeling ever when you could not prove the criminal’s wrongdoing and yet, right in front of your eyes, she or he shamelessly said that they would forgive you and could relate to you who blindly ‘accused’ them.

It might make you questioned on just how callous someone could be?

“We will never apologize to her,” Otoya and Cecil did not know how but just like usual, they always ended up thinking about the same thing.

“I say, apologize to her right now!”

“No,” Otoya resisted.

“Over my dead body,” Cecil remarked.  

“If that’s the case, to make sure that you guys reflect on your wrongdoing, you both will be detained until tomorrow morning. You guys are not allowed to go back to your dorm, understood!?”

Surprisingly, it did not intimidate them at all. Instead, they looked rather satisfied to be detained rather than to apologize to Tomochika.

They knew Tomochika would not feel daunted by this. The girl would not go back to dorm and slaughter Haruka afterward because Otoya and Cecil were already there to endure the punishment…

And also to lose respect from the whole school. No matter how long they tried to keep this situation as a secret, it always knew how to reveal itself.  

* * *

 

**Syo** scratched his blond head as he headed for Tokiya’s room. Masato’s voice lingered in his mind and it was confusing as hell.

_‘Please tell Tokiya that Otoya and Aijima won’t come back to the dorm until tomorrow morning. Otoya already asked Shinomiya to take care of Tokiya tonight but I trust you to monitor Shinomiya instead.’_

Which of course would cover the risk of Natsuki feeding his hellish food to Tokiya. So, tonight, Syo was assigned with the tough job.

But, why doesn’t Hijirikawa himself nurse Tokiya for tonight? Not that I want to complain but usually, it has somewhat become a rule for him to take care of Tokiya.

“Tokiya, I am coming!” Syo slammed the door open but what happened next was…

Tokiya with his screamingly blue face, looked lifeless while staring at Natsuki who was beaming ear to ear with a spoon of soup in his hand.

Syo knew than everyone that Natsuki and a spoon of suspicious-looking soup was one of the disasters that you should avoid at any cost.

“How does it taste, Tokiya-kun?”

Instead of answering Natsuki right away, Tokiya averted his gaze at the horrified Syo.

“See you in heaven, Syo.”

That was all he could think of before he passed out with a spirit desperately wanted to come out of his mouth.

“Tokiya!!!”

* * *

 

**The** blue eyes desperately opened themselves before scanning around the room. He could see that half of the room was painted dark blue with minimal items while the other half was much more colorful with two guitars hanged on the wall. Otoya’s bed was neat…

Wait? Otoya’s room side?

He was still here, in his room with open eyes?

He was still alive? How was that even possible when the last food that he ate was Natsuki’s perilous soup? Just now, he was positive that this was the end of his life and he would meet his late mummy soon.

But he was still alive.

He was about to look for someone, probably Syo when his hearing was distracted by Masato’s loud voice, yelling at someone. Syo who was standing beside Masato looked as angry while crossing his small arms.

Eh, Masato?

“For the last time I tell you, Shinomiya, your dish is disgusting! It could cause Tokiya to die early, you know that!? There is a reason why everybody refuses your dish! Why can’t you just get it into your thick skull!?”

“But why?” Natsuki titled his head, feeling ridiculously confused.

“Because they are disgusting!” Masato and Syo burst in anger. It was cute to see the shorter boys yelled at the much bigger Natsuki. It looked more like they were yelling at wall.

“Do you remember the last time Tokiya ate your biscuit? It caused him a terrible food poisoning!” Syo supplied. He knew more than everyone how dense Natsuki could be when it comes to others’ feedback on his cooking so he was there to help Masato to knock some sense into his roommate’s head.   

“But Ren-kun said that they are delicious.”

“His taste bud is weird. Don’t believe in him!” Masato retorted. “I believe that I taught you how to at least make a decent dish. But are why you still failed?”

“But, I… I …”

“No excuse! You are forbidden from bringing food to Tokiya. Got that?”

“Masato?” Tokiya’s hoarse voice stopped the scolding session. Instead, everybody formed a half circle around him.

“Tokiya/Tokiya-kun!!” The way they approached him made it looked like Tokiya was miraculously alive after being dead for a few minutes.

Oh… Maybe he was already dead but somehow came back alive, his still spinning head reasoned out.  

“Are you alright? Do you feel queasy?” When Masato continuously showed his motherly side, that was when Tokiya realized that Masato was there, did not avoid him as usual.

It had been a week since the attack took place and Masato never saw him in his room anymore.  

“I thought that you are already dead, Tokiya,” Syo was unconsciously overdramatic again.

“Shut up!” Masato shouted again.

“You will make me die easily if you shout like that again, Masato,” Tokiya smiled. “Where have you been? I thought that you were mad at me.”

Oh, crap! I should have not been near him! I guess that I am too worried about him to remember my promise with Otoya.

“I… I am just busy…” He quickly stood up. Out of panic, his elbow hit Syo’s innocent nose but Masato was too anxious to say sorry.

“Hijirikawa… How dare you…” Syo mumbled in pain as he touched his red nose.

“Woah, Syo-chan! Are you okay?” Natsuki asked.

“I guess that you are getting fine, right? You have Kurusu and Shinomiya to help you so I will excuse myself first,” Masato remarked before scurrying away like a cartoon character.

“Hey, wait!” Tokiya shouted again but Masato was too fast to be stopped.

“Oii!! Say sorry to my innocent nose, Hijirikawaaa!” While holding his victimized nose, Syo sought the justice. “This guy is unbelievable… Hitting me with such a sharp elbow…”   

“What happened to him?” Natsuki asked. “Why is he in such a rush?”

“That’s what I want to ask,” Tokiya answered. 

“Come to think of it, I believe that you are supposed to be mute, right, Tokiya?” Syo remarked. “You even shouted just now. Did it hurt your throat even more?”

“Considering how Masato acted around me and how Otoya did not come back to dorm tonight, do you think I am going to shut my mouth?” Tokiya said, bitterly.

“Yeah, you got the point there,” Syo sighed.

“Speaking of Otoya-kun and Cecil-kun, do you think they looked weird today? No, not only today. They are always weird,” Natsuki pointed out. “They suddenly have something up together. They always did not include Masato-kun and me in their conversation and they…”

“They seem to resent Shibuya. Is that what you wanted to say?” Syo added.

“Yeah,” Natsuki softly nodded.

“What do you guys mean?” Tokiya asked as he thought that it was so sudden to hear such gossip.

“Otoya always glared at Shibuya for no reasons. And you know what is the most shocking thing today? I heard rumour that the reason why he and Cecil cannot come back to dorm tonight because they are in detention.”

“And maybe because Cecil-kun and Otoya-kun did something to Tomo-chan,” Natsuki added. “Before they both suddenly disappeared and were absent for the rest of day, Otoya-kun asked Tomo-chan to follow him somewhere. Shortly after that, Cecil-kun also went out of class. Masato-kun and I were worried about them so we tried to ask Ringo sensei but he seemed hiding something. After Otoya-kun asked me to take care of you tonight, I asked him where did he go but he did not reply me.”

“And during the lunchtime, Nanami told us that Tomo-chan had to rest at dorm since she was injured. Don’t you think it’s suspicious, Tokiya?” Syo remarked. “And do you remember when you talked to Otoya about the practice? This happened before the attack…”

* * *

 

**“So,** do you have plan this evening, Otoya?” Tokiya asked as they met right after class.

“No. Why?”

“Then, do you want to brush up your singing a bit? You know, there is a part lacking in your ‘Smile Magic’…”

“You… You want to teach me?” The ruby eyes lightened up.

“Yeah. Why do you look so surprised, though?” Tokiya raised his eyebrow as he chuckled.

“No, it’s just that…”

“Tokiyaaa!” Out of nowhere, Syo ran towards them, all excited to see the blue head. “Today is the day, right?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“What day?” Otoya asked.

“He will join us for the practice too. He keeps asking me to help him with his singing but I am only free this evening. So, today… How about at three o’clock?”

“Yeah, of…” Syo was about to agree right away when he could see that Otoya was looking daggers at him. Something that he never received from the used-to-be- _genki_ redhead.

What’s wrong with this dude? He never looked at me like that, Syo stepped back, as if Otoya’s look could kill him. He always thought that he and Otoya were friendly to each other.  

At least before Otoya disappeared strangely, they were really chummy to each other.

“Are you in, Otoya?” Tokiya reconfirmed.

“Eh? Sure.”

“Syo?”

“Eh? Em… No, thanks. I suddenly remember that I have a plan with Natsuki today. So, see you guys soon, byeee,” the small boy immediately left those two siblings, much to Tokiya’s bewilderment.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Both Tokiya and Syo did not realize that they muttered the same thing, referring to the said boy and Otoya respectively.

* * *

 

**“He** scowled at you?” Tokiya’s eyes sized up. “Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know. Don’t ask me,” Syo remarked. “He seemed resents anyone who spends more time with you so that’s why he glared at me and if Natsuki’s true about he doing something to Shibuya, I think that makes sense since Shibuya always practiced singing with you.”

“I think Ikki is psychologically disturbed,” without anyone realized, Ren was already sitting in their circle, twirling a rose. “When I bumped into him a few times, he laughed and cried by himself.”

1…2…3…

“Woahhhh!!” Natsuki, Syo and Tokiya shouted in chorus. It was like they just saw a strawberry blond ghost unabashedly joined their conversation.

The volume of shout was enough to make Tokiya coughed, gasping for oxygen.

“Woah, Tokiya! Are you okay?” Syo quickly stroked Tokiya’s back. “When are you here, Ren? You almost made all of us passed out, you know that!?”

“What? All I did was silently taking part in the circle with you guys…”

“That’s the wrong part about that!”

 “But, Ren, what do you mean by that?” Tokiya asked.

“Oh? About your brother?” Ren turned out serious as he took out another rose to twirl around. It took all for Tokiya to not scold the playboy for making a mess in his room. “Well, you see… Ikki was used to be so cheerful and friendly. But now, after his disappearance, he is always spaced out and it seems his attention only revolves around you, Icchi. And oh, before you can say that he is your brother so of course he will get clingy with you, I have something to say about Hijirikawa too. I come here because the moment I asked Hijirikawa about you, he kept looking daggers at me as if I am trash. I don’t want any ink bottle fly to me so I come here to save my handsome face.”

“Yeah, another convoluted case,” Tokiya sighed. “It seems he tried to steer clear of me nowadays and I am dying to know why. I wonder if he thinks that I am his encumbrance…”

“No! That’s not true!” The three blond boys quickly refuted.

“Even he always heaps scorn on you, I have never seen such a loyal friend like him,” Syo remarked, followed by Natsuki’s convincing nod.

“You don’t know how pallid he was when you went missing on that day. That was the most frightened look that I have ever seen from Hijirikawa,” Ren justified.

“Then, why?” Tokiya remarked sadly. It was not that he could not survive without Masato but when someone so close to you suddenly acted distant, it scared and confused you.

“Well…” Syo suddenly looked anxious as he met eyes with Natsuki.

“What? Is there something else that I didn’t know?” Tokiya asked.

“Natsuki, how?” Syo asked his roommate.

“I think he needs to know, Syo-chan,” Natsuki remarked.

“What is it, guys?”

“That night after we found you, is that true that Hijirikawa and Otoya were going to cook something for you?”

“Yes, they were. Why?”

“Well, Natsuki and I eavesdropped on their conversation. We did not mean to begin with. We wanted to grab some snacks but it seemed they both were quite serious in their conversation so we did not want to distract them. We began to pay attention when they mentioned your name.”

“Otoya-kun was crying. He said something about… He could not stand with whatever ‘this’ he referred to. He helped you but it turned out so twisted,” Natsuki added.

“And when Hijirikawa offered to help him, Otoya said that everything was too late. Nobody could save him but he asked Hijirikawa to stay away from you. Otoya literally forced him to agree with this,” Syo carefully explained.

“But the oddest thing is Otoya-kun said that it is only temporary. When he is gone, he wants Masato-kun to stay beside you no matter what happens. He said something that please don’t let you by yourself,” Natsuki added.

“Wait, what!?” Tokiya felt his head spinning as he was shoved with such nonsensical information. “What did those guys think they are doing? This is ridiculous!”

“We don’t know. We just told you what he heard,” Syo remarked.

“You should ask them directly, Icchi. When they know that you know about this, there is no reason for them to deny and they will spill the beans right away,” Ren suggested. “And about your brother, I am sorry to say this but he needs help, Icchi. Being spaced out, crying and laughing alone, glaring at Ochibi-chan and Shibuya who are his close friends and he even asked Hijirikawa to stay away from you… That really did not sound Ikki that we know unless something really happened to him before.”

Yeah, Ren was very right about this.

Just what did Otoya have in his mind?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for chapter 10! As usual, feel free to let me know what do you think about this chapter ^^


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The interrogation...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and comments, guysssss!  
> And about this chapter, to be honest, I struggled a lot to complete it. Writer’s block is the major factor. Hope you guys enjoy your reading ^^

DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA. I just own the plot.

**After** so much hard work that she had to put (the blackmail, an assault upon Tokiya and making sure that the fact that Cecil and Otoya picked a fight with her would spread like wildfire and another clandestine crime) to achieve her dream, her luck was finally in. ‘Thanks’ to Otoya and Cecil who could not control their resentment and refused to apologize to Tomochika, everybody saw her as the victim of the situation. There were always random students who would say to her that…

“Shibuya-san, keep strong. That must be hard for you to be accused by your own friends.”

“I never thought that Otoya-kun dare to hit a girl like this. I guess that his sainted look can lie.”

“Tomo-chan, I just want to say that we always have your back. We know there is no way you can betray Ichinose-san like this. You are a nice person, Tomo-chan. We believe in you.”

All the encouragement was so priceless to be true. Yes, her luck was always in now.

Her singing performance was also got outstanding even she was not sure what was the reason. She could only assume the fact that she did not sing with Tokiya since a few weeks ago and she no longer did not get any stress from Otoya and Cecil were the major factors.

Now, she felt more confident to defeat Tokiya or maybe…

Completely getting rid of him too. She heard that Tokiya would attend school tomorrow and it made her so uneasy.

She would make sure that her next plan to attack him would be triumphant.

* * *

 

**Evidently,** the circumstance that an upfront person like Tokiya could not stand the most was when he already knew a big secret but he had to pretend to be the opposite one.

The perfect example was when he knew that Masato steered clear of him not out of choice but he had to react as if Masato did which was a downright pain for him. He had to bombard the blue head with questions just to show that he cared about his best friend like usual. 

“Masato!!” As soon as he could spot a familiar figure who just happened to go out of the toilet, Tokiya shouted deafeningly so that the person could not pretend to not hear him before dashing off to God-knows-where.

But it seemed Masato was rather being called deaf than responding to his friend. His face looked aghast before swiftly avoiding to meet eyes with Tokiya.

“Oi, Hijirikawa Masato!! Are you deaf!?” The loudspeaker which was in the form Ichinose Tokiya made him flinched in surprise. It managed to make Masato to turn and look at Tokiya straight into his eyes. Luckily, he did not spot any student nearby.

Urgh, this dude… At least, give some care to your throat, won’t you? In the midst of the exasperation, Masato could not help but feeling anxious about Tokiya’s well-being.

With a long face, he stomped, approaching his best friend so that Tokiya would stop abusing his throat.

“What? What do you want from me?” Even everybody said that his acting skill was outstanding, Masato doubted that it would be enough to convince Tokiya who could easily read his mind like an open book. “And also… It’s tactless to call someone deaf while shouting in the middle of corridor. Learn some respect, will you?”

“Look who’s talking. You pretended to not hear me when I am here positive that my voice is loud enough for someone who is not supposed to be deaf,” Tokiya scoffed on the spot. “So, you also have to learn some respect, Masato.”

Masato sighed, obviously feeling trounced. He knew he could not match Tokiya’s level of sarcasm. He was aware that Tokiya would grill him with so many questions about his sudden coldness and he was ready for it.

Even the excuse that he was going to give was totally a lie but as long as it would help Otoya, he was willing to give it a shot. After all, just like what Otoya had stated, he and Tokiya had spent so much time together so it was unfair for the boy.

May his acting skill and excuse come in handy now.

“Just cut to the chase, won’t you? What is it? What do you want from me?” Masato crossed his arms as his eyes met another blue one, deliberately expressing that he did not even have time for Tokiya.

“My hand and shoulder are healing,” Tokiya switched on his cheerful mode right away while moving his left shoulder and hand but Masato just stared at them blankly. It was hard for him to restrain himself from showing how grateful he was with the progress. “And also my voice. I can sing again.”

“Obviously,” Masato sneered since the blue head and loudspeaker did not have much difference. “Good for you, then. That’s all?”

“Of course not,” Tokiya’s childish expression turned softer. “But I just wonder if I… If I did something that hurt you, Masa.”

It was enough to make Masato’s heart sinking. To make Tokiya feeling guilty about something he had never done was one of the things that he hated the most. Yes, the guy was his pesky friend who made his life tiring but he never did as bad as hurting Masato.

Yes, that guilty expression! Keep it up, Tokiya! Just talk in more dramatic way and he will feel guiltier, Tokiya was chuckling inside as he observed every second of Masato’s expression.   

“To be honest, I feel lonely to not have you around. Usually, you will take care of me until I recover from my sickness. Not that I want to complain because yeah… You might have your own work and I have Otoya already but something told me that you deliberately avoided me. So, I am here to ask you if I am…” Tokiya bit his lips, pretending to feel hesitant and also according to his definition, to add a dramatic vibe in the situation. “If I am a burden for you.”  

The last sentence was saddening for him. He never thought that Tokiya was a burden.

Not even once.  

The scion inhaled deeply, gathering the strength to say something that he knew would hurt Tokiya.

It’s okay. Like Otoya said, it’s just temporary.

“To be honest, I don’t think taking caring of you while you are sick is a burden but the fact that you are my friend itself is actually a burden.”

Tokiya’s eyes widened. It was not because the answer hurt him but it was quite unexpected.

Wow! It seems he had come up with something else to be the excuse to stay away from me. Let’s hear him out, shall we?

But… Wait! Don’t tell me he wants to use the lame gay rumour as the excuse!  

“I am tired of being your friend,” Masato clenched his fists as he let out his next set of words. “I am tired of being treated like a gay just because I am your friend. Everybody said all those horrid things behind my back. They said that I ruined Hijirikawa family because I have an unhealthy relationship with my own best friend. It’s offensive when everybody started to doubt your sexual preference and...”

Much to his surprise, Tokiya laughed but as someone who knew the blue head for more than ten years, he knew that Tokiya was mocking him.

He would give that kind of laugh if he thought that someone took leave of his senses.

“Is that funny?” Masato asked with a blank face but anyone could tell that he was angry.

“Hell, it won’t. You don’t think it’s funny?” Tokiya asked out of insult.

“No, not at all.”

“Oh, really? Then, I will tell you why it’s funny,” his annoying laugh was replaced by a contemptuous smirk. “It’s funny because seriously, Masa… Ten years ago, five years ago… We built a snowman together, played hide and seek, attended singing lessons, went to ghost house… We did all those innocent stuff together up until now since I enjoyed your company the most. I feel confident and secure when you are around. We both have a very special bond that I will never get it from anyone beside you. But, I never thought the day would come when there are outsiders who think they know everything about us started to spread rumour that we dated each other. I think if we are girls, we don’t have to face this absurdity, don’t you think so? I wonder what have boys done wrong. Why can’t we be close to each other without being assumed as gays?”

Masato did not have the guts to look at Tokiya straight to his face. He was touched. Yes, in spite of Tokiya’s sarcasm, he was moved with the way Tokiya said that he was very special in his life.        

“I still can’t believe that people nowadays have such a colorful imagination to associate two boys who are childhood friends with dating each other. For me, they can think whatever they want as long as we both know that it’s just a friendship and we are straight.”  

“But at least the rumours about us will not spread more if we steer clear of each other and my father will not see me as an insult to the family. No matter how many times I said to you that I am scared of my father, he is still my family. He’s my parent so it is bound for me to prioritize what he thinks over you,” Masato justified.

Wow, good point. If it’s not because of those guys said to me that he already planned this with Otoya, I might as well believe in him on the spot, Tokiya mentally remarked. Not to mention Masato’s acting skill was excellent.  

This guy improved a lot. The way his eyes spoke… No, Tokiya! This is not the right time to evaluate someone’s acting skill.

“Okay, then. I guess that I can put myself in your shoes. You are from _Hijirikawa_ family anyway. Luckily, I don’t have a father who easily believes in stranger over his own son,” Tokiya knew it was rude to scorn somebody’s father but it still frustrated him to see the way Hijirikawa Masaomi educated his son. It was way too strict and he labeled it as a child abuse because Masaomi was the reason why Masato had a very low self-esteem back then. Tokiya never saw a son who was so intimidated with his own father like Masato to the point of he would shiver when Masaomi was around. “Well, then, I guess I should respect your decision. We should stay away from each other. Thank you for being my best friend up until now and sorry for making them doubted you, I guess,” he left Masato who immediately felt the emptiness.

“It’s okay, Masato. It’s only temporary,” he coaxed himself while stroking his chest.

But still… It felt empty to break their friendship because of the stupid reason.   

* * *

 

**A** few days passed and much to everyone’s confusion, they never saw Tokiya met Masato or vice versa. They would certainly bump into each other several times but Tokiya always had his way to ignore the scion.

Their strange melodrama was enough to send Otoya to his guilt. He knew it was all because of him. From those gossipers, he found out that Tokiya and Masato fought because the scion did not want to be called homosexual just because he was close to Tokiya which in reality, it was absurd and had nothing to do with the real reason why Masato grew distant from Tokiya.

He knew he was self-seeking but he had no choices. He needed Masato’s help now.

We don’t have that many days left. Soon enough, you can stay beside Tokiya again, Masa…

* * *

 

**That** evening, Otoya and Tokiya met Haruka as the composer wanted to hand their songs for the graduation audition.

“Why there are so many songs to choose, Nanami-san?” Tokiya asked as his eyes scanned all the music sheets in his hand. He and Otoya got four songs each to choose and he could not feel flabbergasted enough with the girl’s talent.

“I think it’s because when I think about you guys, I always have idea to write new songs. Since I don’t know which one to choose, I guess that I will leave it to you guys,” Haruka said sheepishly.  

“But they are all great, right, Otoya?”

As he had expected and the others had stated, Otoya would always be spaced out. God knows what he thought with the gloomy but irritating face.

“Otoya? Oi, Otoya!” The redhead startled as he received a jab in his arm. His red eyes anxiously wandered towards the perplexed Tokiya and Haruka.

“What’s the matter?” Tokiya asked.

“Are you okay, Otoya-kun?” Haruka looked concerned.

“Eh? I… I am okay. Did you say something just now?”

“Don’t you think all the songs are amazing?” Tokiya’s lips pointed at the music sheets in Otoya’s hand.

“Eh? Yeah, they are amazing. As expected from Nanami,” the redhead smiled, enough to make the composer flushed.

“Tha… Thank you.”

“Our debut will be awesome! I guess I will choose one of the songs for the audition and the other songs will be my next singles. What do you say, Nanami-san?” Tokiya exclaimed, sending the composer to widen her golden eyes out of happiness.

“It will be an honour for me, Ichinose-san. Knowing that you will still use my songs after you become an idol.”

“Of course I will. It will be a waste if we keep them, right? Did other guys also get more than one songs?” Tokiya asked, referring to other STARISH members.

“Yes,” Haruka nodded.

“Then, I think the others including Otoya also will continue to sing your songs. Do you still want to work with us when you become a pro, Nanami-san?”

“Of course I want. Composing for STARISH is my dream after all.”

In the midst of the excitement, Otoya just forced a smile. It was nice to see Tokiya and Haruka talked excitedly about the debut.

Even he already knew he could not make it, it just torn his heart apart over and over again. He knew he should pray for them instead but…

It was painful to know that he would not be there to see them graduated at least.   

“I have to go to toilet for a while,” Otoya excused himself before leaving Tokiya with a suggestive look at Haruka, making the composer puzzled.

“Why do you look at me like that, Ichinose-san?”

“Nothing. It’s just that your face is always red whenever Otoya is around,” he remarked casually but that was enough to make imaginary steam came out of her ears because of embarrassment. “Especially this area,” he pointed at Haruka’s cheeks. “Why, though?”

“Eh?? No, I… I am not,” she shook her head, way too violent for her neck health.

“Okay, then. Just asking,” Tokiya nodded, seemingly wanted to stop to question her. “By the way Nanami-san, do you remember Otoya’s last night shirt when we had potluck?”

“Oh, do you mean the dark blue sweater?”

It was an awkward silence with Haruka quickly shut her mouth in horror while Tokiya smirked at her.

“No, it’s not like that, Ichinose-san! I always have a habit remembering somebody’s shirt…”

“Oh, really? Then, what about mine? Do you remember what color was my shirt?”

“Ehhh? Well…” She stammered while her brain desperately searched Tokiya’s last night shirt image yet to no avail. “Purple? Or… white perhaps?”

“How about Masato’s?”

Oh my, I don’t know. I seriously don’t know!

“I… I am not sure. Is it… Blue?”

“Yeah, Masato will always wear blue while me… It’s always purple,” Tokiya teased. “You are so easy to read, Nanami-san. It was obvious that you only paid attention to Otoya.”

If embarrassment could be the reason for someone’s death, Haruka would be the first victim. Not only in Japan but the whole world.

“But… But… It doesn’t mean that when I remember someone’s shirt, I…”

“You what? You like him?” His casual guess was enough to make Haruka slipped from her chair out of shock.

“You don’t have to be that dramatic, you know,” Tokiya chuckled as he stretched out his hand to Haruka which the composer reluctantly accepted. She was light enough for him to apply little energy to lift her up. “Just relax. It’s normal when you remember everything trivial about someone that you like.”

“But, Ichinose-san… I like him just like how I like you guys. There is no feeling…”

“Okay, I understand,” Tokiya interrupted her, feeling a bit sympathetic to Haruka even it was fun to pull her leg. “But, as his classmate, do you think he looks weird nowadays? Like just now… Normally, he would be excited when we talked about debut but instead, he looked troubled.”

“Yes, you are very right, Ichinose-san,” Haruka nodded as she was reminded of the spaced out Otoya in class. “Ringo sensei would always call him out for not paying attention in class. And usually, he would talk with everyone but now… I can see that he only talks much with you.”

“Did Shibuya-san say something about who injured her? Is Otoya the one who hit her?”

“No, I asked her several times but she refused to tell anyone because she said that person just misunderstood her and there is no need to make a fuss. But, it seemed everybody believed that Otoya-kun was the one who hit Tomo-chan, right?” 

“Yes, they did. I wonder where did the rumour come from.”

They ended up staying in silence for a while before Otoya came back with slightly puffy eyes but neither Tokiya nor Haruka bothered to ask.

There was no use to ask the guitarist because he would reply with ‘I am fine’ anyway.

* * *

 

**Tokiya** was sitting at his desk with his hand played with his pen. His notebook was open but his blue eyes studied Otoya who was sprawling on his bed while humming the songs that Haruka gave to him.

“Hey, Otoya.”

“Yes?” The adorable face turned to meet his eyes.

“I am just curious about this thing. You are already 16 years old so I wonder if you do have someone that you take a liking…”

“Huh? Where did that come from?” Otoya sat up as he expected more explanation. It was not like Tokiya to talk about girls with him.

“Nothing. I guess that I am just curious?”

“Hmm... I don’t hang out with girls that much so…”

“Then, what about with those girls who you hang out with?” Tokiya encouraged so that Otoya would think about Haruka on the spot.

There were only two names that crossed Otoya’s mind when they talked about who he was used to hang out with before.

Shibuya Tomochika and Nanami Haruka.

The first one was out of question. Rather than a crush, he wanted to crash her.

But, Nanami Haruka…

Nanami… His heart ached as he recalled the soft-smiled face that always soothed him. He might never admit it to anyone but Haruka did have a special place in his heart. It always fluttered when he saw Haruka’s smile but he just brushed it off because he believed it was not important and it would disappear in no time. But, after Tomochika lured him to the abandoned building, saying that she kidnapped Haruka, the thought that Haruka would be hurt made him realized just how important Haruka was to him.

Now, everything had changed into something painful and unforgivable. It was too late to turn back time and saying that he loved her.

There was no way they could be together. They were too far apart.

“You are making that face again,” Tokiya sighed as he put his pen down. “I bet you are thinking about Nanami-san, right?”

“Eh? I don’t.”

Tsk, even their reactions were also the same! They blushed like they just caught a cold. But I guess if they do like each other, soon enough they will confess, right? Yet, sadly, it leaves Masato with one-sided love, just like me. Sigh… Even our first love also ended with no hope like this.

“Are you sure? Your face said the opposite, though.”

“Well, I did think about her sometimes but… I guess that if I do think and like her, it’s not like it will change anything,” Otoya’s voice got lower as he talked.

“What did you say?”

“Nah, nothing.”

His clichéd reaction just made Tokiya lost his patience.

It was enough for now. He just could not stand with this absurdly mysterious circumstance. He stood up, headed for Otoya with a serious face.

“Otoya.”

“Yes?” The redhead flinched as Tokiya suddenly stood in front of him.  

“You know that we are always here for you, right? Me, daddy, your friends… Everyone is ready for you whenever you have problem.”

“I know,” he answered softly.

“Then, you must know that what I am trying to imply here is I want you to open up to us. You obviously looked disturbed but you did not say anything about it…” As much as he was exasperated with Otoya’s mystery, Tokiya was aware that he tended to be foul-mouthed when he could not stand with annoying circumstance so he tried to be soft with his language for the sake of Otoya but what he got was…

“What are you on about?”

This. He really hated this response the most when that person clearly understood him.

“Stop acting dumb, Otoya. You know what I mean,” this time, Tokiya sounded stern. He almost swore but he managed to hold it back. “What gives with those talking and crying alone by the lake? What on earth is your problem exactly?”

Otoya could not resist himself from swallowing the invisible lump in his throat. From the scowl that Tokiya shot at him, he knew that he could not avoid it anymore.

“I… I am just stressed out about the debut but I don’t want to make you stressed out as well. You sure have so many things to think about…”

“Yeah, of course I have so many things to think about including how you have become weird after your one-week disappearance and how Masato was starting to avoid me for a weird reason as well and you just happened to not question anything about that.”

Crap! That was too sharp! Otoya bit his lips in anxiety. His hands started to shake and when he felt that Tokiya was still observing him, he quickly hid his hands under the hem of his shirt.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to answer me. I will make you confess soon,” the threat beneath the voice was also overwhelming to hear. “But another thing that I want to know is what’s wrong with Masato?" As soon as Tokiya asked the question, Otoya averted his gaze to somewhere else, losing its focus.

"Look at me when I am talking, Otoya."

"I am," Otoya quickly look at Tokiya but it was hard to not flinch when there was a threatening aura around his brother.

"Why are you quivering?"

"I am not."

"You liar," Tokiya’s voice turned even colder as he was this close to shout of frustration and anger. "Please answer me when I am trying to be nice because I hate myself when I am angry and I believe you also don’t want to see that. So, by all means, please tell me why did Masato avoid me?" 

"And why are you asking me?"

"Because first, I already asked him but he came up with a ridiculous gay story which sounded so ridiculous and it is really ridiculous no matter how many times you think of it and second… I know that you are the one who asked him to stay away from me so when I asked you why did he avoid me, it’s actually ‘why did you ask him to avoid me?’, Otoya.”

It really gave the redhead the goose bumps. How did he know? Who told him?

Was it Masato?  

"Tokiya..." There were a few knocks on the door before it was opened by Masato. "Oh, are you guys talking about something right now? Then I will excuse first..."

"No, stay here," Tokiya ordered.

"But…" Tokiya could notice that Masato glanced at Otoya nervously. Of course the pianist would when he already promised Otoya to not be around when there were two of them.  

"I said, stay here, Masato," Tokiya used his authoritative tone and it made both Masato and Otoya flinched. “I deliberately wanted all three of us to be here in the same room so that we can be honest to each other. I can’t stand seeing you guys beating about the bush anymore. Enough is enough.”

“What do you mean?” Tokiya closed his eyes as Masato let out the words that he hated to hear the most in this kind of circumstance.

"What I meant was I know that Otoya was the one who asked you to stay away from me so stop selling me the gay story. I never bought that.”  

Expectedly, Masato widened their eyes out of shock.

“So, at the end, it turned out to be more interesting than I thought. My brother was so desperate to get close to me to the point of he threatened my best friend to stay away from me,” Tokiya glared at Otoya. “Care to explain why? And you… Masato, why the hell did you agree with something like this? Can we just get along together like how we were used to without ditching anyone?”

This time, Otoya knew he had to answer. He could not involve Masato in his problem anymore.

“I was jealous of Masato,” Otoya said. “You always have a soft spot for him. You searched for him first when you got sick. You relied on him for everything and that’s why I asked him to stay away from you temporarily. I promise it’s not going to be forever.”

Tokiya sighed. He was about to explain why he tended to count on Masato but the scion was faster.

“Otoya, I think there is a misunderstanding here. The reason why Tokiya ended up relying on me because he sees me as his friend. It’s normal for a brother to not depend on his little brother because they have to keep their pride and they have to show that they are strong in front of their little brother,” Masato supplied, receiving nods from Tokiya.

“You are being helpful as always. Thank you, Masa,” Tokiya patted his back thankfully. “But there is more than this, you know. Why did you say to Masato that it’s only temporary? Why did you say to Masato that it was too late to help you? And why did you ask Masato to stay beside me and never leave me by myself when you’ re gone?”

Just like Tokiya, Masato also stared at the redhead, seeking the explanation that not yet to be revealed.

“Perhaps, do you want to imply that you will ask daddy to send you to abroad or something?” Tokiya raised his eyebrows. Since Otoya was being tight-lipped, he ended up doing more guesses. “No, I will never allow that. You are my brother so you should stay somewhere that I can look after you.”

Masato could swear that Tokiya’s words just made Otoya was this close to collapse.

_‘You are my brother’_. That was enough to make Otoya feeling like the whole world was laughing at him. The whole world was ridiculing him.

Why does he look even sadder, though? Masato wondered.

“I have to look after you because I agreed with Ren that you are psychologically disturbed,” Tokiya declared as he took out Otoya’s pictures from his drawer. “He told me that you have become weirdly attached to me and would glare at anyone who tried to distract our time together. I didn’t believe in it first before Syo gave me these evidences,” he showed them a few pictures of Otoya looking daggers at any people who approached Tokiya. “Please don’t ever forget that Syo is a fighter. He will never stop just because you glowered at him and that’s why I asked him for help. ”

Otoya bit his lips. All those things that he really wanted to keep as secrets was exposed by the last person that he wanted him to know his ‘craziness’.

“You even glared at Shibuya-san. I heard the rumour though. Is that true that you are the one who hit Shibuya-san?”

“Yes,” Otoya’s quick response sent the best friends to widen their eyes.

“Why, Otoya? What had she done to you to the point of you hit her? You never hit anyone before,” Masato exclaimed, not able to conceal his surprise.

“She… I think that she is the one who ordered the C class trio to assault Tokiya,” Otoya answered softly.

“What!?” This time, Masato shouted in shock and later found himself got more shocked because Tokiya, the victim of the assault was way calmer than him.

“Why would she do that?” Masato asked. “I don’t think Shibuya is like that.”

“Do you have evidence, Otoya?” Tokiya pointed out.

Otoya slowly shook his head. “I am sorry. I just could not control my emotion.”

“Then, why didn’t you apologize to her?” Tokiya’s question sent Masato and Otoya to stare back at him out of confusion.

“Actually, Hyuga sensei had told me everything that happened on that day. The reason why you were in detention with Aijima-san because you guys were refused to apologize to her, right?”

Otoya nodded again.

“Why? Because you still believe that she is the culprit of the assault? What made you thought that she’s the one who ordered them to attack me?”

Yet, this time Otoya ignored his question.

“As much as I feel grateful because you did it for my sake, I still disapproved the way you approached this case. There is no use for you to use violence especially if you don’t have the proofs,” he remarked casually but Otoya could see that Tokiya was so disappointed with him. “And also these pictures,” Tokiya showed them the pictures of Otoya cried and laughed alone by their school lake. “I don’t judge you for being crying and laughing alone but seriously, when Masato and I asked you what the hell was going on in the building but you never answered that, I supposed that had something to do with what happened to you during your disappearance.”

If Otoya could sink his head any lower, he would go for that because he really hated this kind of situation. It was not like he committed a crime but now, he felt like he was treated worse than a criminal.

“I asked you for the last time. What happened to you during the disappearance?”

Otoya still had his eyes staring at the floor without even bothering to answer his brother, much to Masato’s anxiety and Tokiya’s frustration.

“Just answer him, Otoya,” the redhead ignored Masato’s suggestion.

“Otoya, I am talking to you!” Tokiya finally exploded. “Am I talking to a wall now!? Spit it out already!”

“It was nothing. Just like what I said, I just tried to commit suicide.”

Tokiya nodded but obviously, he was dejected. He gave the redhead a chance but he did not use it.

Fine, then.

“I think that’s enough from me. It was tiring to see you being tight-lipped like this. I guess that Ren and daddy are right. You need help from an expert. I cannot let you bottled up everything anymore. You need somebody that you can talk to comfortably.”

“What do you mean, Tokiya?” Otoya enquired.  

“I need to send you home. There is no use for you stay here if you lose focus. You will become more problematic if you become an idol. I will talk to daddy and he will pick you up. He will find a psychologist for you so that you can heal.”

As much as Masato agreed with the idea, he was puzzled to see Otoya’s face expression.

It was like he would reach his hell soon.

* * *

 

**Haruka** rushed to the gazebo which would be her favourite place to hang out with her friends. She was curious why Otoya wanted to meet her secretly at night.

It could be… He wanted to talk about the song? Was there something wrong with the melody?

She knew she just got it right when she saw a red-haired boy, standing alone by the lake while holding music sheets. As usual, her heart skipped a beat as she saw Otoya smiling at her. It was so soothing.

But… it looked so sad at the same time. That was the kind of smile that she always saw plastered over the cute face lately. 

But tonight, the smile seemed stranger than usual. It was not Otoya at all.

“I am sorry for the long wait, Otoya-kun!” Haruka exclaimed.

“It’s okay. I just got here,” Otoya answered. For some reason, those sorrowful red eyes did not leave her face even for once. She avoided his eyes but she could feel that he still stared at her. Not like usual when it looked chummy but now it looked…

Warm and loving?

“I am sorry for disturbing you so late at night,” Otoya remarked.

“No, it’s okay. I don’t have things to do since I got a writer’s block anyway.”

“Really? Still… no matter how bad your writer’s block is, I am sure Nanami Haruka’s next songs will be astounding too,” he admired her flushed face as he praised her. He almost remarked how cute she looked now. “But… Let’s say you keep having writer block,” he suddenly lifted the music sheets in his hand to match Haruka’s eye level. “I think you can use these songs for your idols in future.”

“Eh?” Haruka took the music sheets in puzzlement. Golden eyes widened as she recognized the songs. “Why would I give them to someone else, Otoya-kun? They are yours.”

He smiled while placing his hands into his sweater pocket to keep them warm. His eyes wandered around to avoid Haruka’s golden eyes before answering, “I can’t even sing them so there is no use for me to keep them, Nanami. It will be waste for your talent and the songs.”

“What do you mean? Why can’t you sing them?”

“Tomorrow, I am going to take a leave. Tokiya suggested me to seek some psychological care. I also personally think that I suffered from PTSD after the disappearance.”

“Oh… Well, I do agree that you looked troubled about something lately, Otoya-kun. Something’s wrong?”

“How’s Tomo-chan doing?” Much to the composer’s shock, he ignored her question swiftly. “Is her injury healing?”

“Yes, she is. I asked her who did it but she refused to tell me.”

“But actually, you want to ask me either it’s true that I am the one who hit her, right?” This time, he stared at her, indirectly asking her to say ‘yes’.

“Eh?”

“Yes, the rumour is true. I am the one who slapped and strangled her,” he answered it in such a calm manner that it looked so ridiculous to Haruka. “I regretted that I did not strangle her since a long time ago, though.”

“Otoya-kun, no… It can’t be…” Haruka unconsciously stepped back as she was surprised at his sudden confession. “Then, Cecil-san…”

“No, Cecil doesn’t have anything to do with the attack. He just tried to protect her from me or to be exact, stopping me from being punished but I guess I got a bit excited to hit her that day…”

“But, why, Otoya-kun? Did Tomo-chan do something that hurt you?”

He loved her question. It was innocent but full of affection and care.

The next thing he realized was his hand stroked her hair down to her chin. Something that he had never done no matter how close he was to a girl.

“Yes, she hurt me…” His eyes looked glum. “A lot and it’s very painful.”

“Otoya-kun…”

He pulled her into his embrace, making her gasped.

“Otoya-kun!” Her face now matched his red sweater. She thought that pulling away would be rude but to be embraced by the guy that she loved since three years ago was not good for her heart condition.  

“Thank you for all the sweet memories that you gave me, Nanami…” His voice was too close in her ears but the more important thing was it sounded heavy with misery. “Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for all the amazing songs. They gave me fun to sing. You have been the inspiration for me to work harder. My life in school would never been this wonderful if it’s not because of you, Nanami.”

“Otoya-kun, if you want to say those things, you should say that when you debut later. It’s too soon to say…”

“No, it won’t happen. I only have tonight to say these things to you. I want you to be the only one who hears them and plus…” He gazed at her puzzled eyes. “There will be no debut for me, Nanami. Tomorrow will be my last day. I am not going to return to school again.”

“What?” Her heart strongly told her that Otoya was trying to say goodbye to her.

But, why? Where would he go? What about his dream?

“I am not going to debut with you guys. I am sorry but it happened that way.”

“But why, Otoya-kun?”

“Sooner or later, you will know. But, there is something that I want you to know tonight.”

He pulled away but his hands still held her shoulders, attempting to make her to look only at him.

“I love you, Nanami.”

Eh?

“I always have this feeling to you but I never cared about it. When I realized it, it was too late. This feeling will only make me suffer.”

“Otoya-kun…” She knew she had to let him knew what she thought about him. Like Otoya, she also always had the feeling to him. Her heart was only his.  

Yet, much to her shock, he stepped back, smiling for the last time before…

“That’s all from me. I am sorry for what I have done to you and I wish you good luck for your dream, Nanami,” just like that, he left her alone, not even turn around to look at her.

“Otoya-kun, wait!”

As she saw him running away from her, she felt like he would leave her forever. She felt like she was going to lose him eternally.

* * *

 

**On** the next day, the news sure was fast to circulate around the academy. Everybody was surprised to know that Otoya was given a leave for his mental cure.

Otoya felt empty and refused to meet to his classmates, not even Haruka. As the car that Kazuki’s driver drove slowly left the academy, he stared at the building for the last time. This was supposed to be the place where his new life and dream came true.

But instead, it had witnessed so many disturbing episodes in his life.

Goodbye, everyone.

* * *

**Meanwhile,** in the female students’ dorm, there was a girl, with a long red hair laughed like a madman as she could see Otoya finally left the school. She stood at the window of her room while holding her slender waist, mentally patted herself on the back for all her success so far.

Otoya is gone. Now, it’s your turn, Ichinose Tokiya. Prepare for Round 2, she mentally warned the oblivious vocalist while holding her phone suggestively. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hohohoho. So what do you think? Feel free to tell me, okay? Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and comment :D Hope you guys enjoy your reading and please excuse my grammar *sweatdropped

DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA. I just own the plot.

 

 **Haruka** pressed the piano keys randomly, trying her best to come up with new songs but everybody knew how distracted she was lately. Her name was frequently called out by Ringo for not paying attention in class. No matter how many times she denied it, her friends knew how much she missed Otoya. She could not focus because her source of inspiration was not there.

Yet, little did they know…

_“I am not going to debut with you guys. I am sorry but it happened that way.”_

_“I love you, Nanami.”_

_“I always have this feeling to you but I never cared about it. When I realized it, it was too late. This feeling will only make me suffer.”_

Why did he say that?

Haruka tried to find the answer. Every time any STARISH member went to visit Otoya, she would join them.

Yet, so far, it was impossible for them to make Otoya meeting them, let alone to talk to them.

“Haruka,” Cecil who appeared out of nowhere called out from the door which startled the girl.

“Cecil-san,” her dry lips promptly curved the brightest smile. He did not want him to fret about her anymore.     

“Come on, Haruka. You don’t need to show that smiling face if you find it hard to do. I know, you are still thinking about Otoya, right?” The prince remarked as he stepped closer to her.

The composer’s sweet smile faded away. She slowly stood up, staring straight into Cecil’s eyes.  

“I really cannot hide anything from you, right, Cecil-san?” The soft voice echoed.

“It’s easy to read you, Haruka,” Cecil stated. “What’s going on? Did Otoya say something to you before he left?”

Her hands squeezed each other, seeking comfort which seemed impossible for her to have these days.

“Yes, he did,” Haruka replied. “He said he loves me…” The confession was supposed to be the best thing ever for Haruka but considering she did not look happy at all, Cecil could only presume that the confession was accompanied by something else which was not only upsetting but he knew it right from the outset.  

“Really? That’s good, then. You should be happy, Haruka. What’s with the glum face?” For the first time in his life, Cecil found it hard to respond to great news with Cecil - esque tone. He sounded so phony and he was positive that Haruka noticed it too.

After Otoya’s tragedy, just like the redhead, Cecil lost his true self. The self which was quirky, a bit flirtatious to Haruka, cheesy and childish. All he had in his mind were revenge for Otoya.

He did not have time to be playful anymore. 

“Are you not happy with the confession?” Cecil said, trying to avoid her from wondering about his weird response just now.

“No because he returned all the songs that I composed for him.”

“Excuse me?”

“The songs for his debut… He asked me to give them to someone else because he will never return to this school anymore,” her voice cracked and that was the sound that ripped up Cecil’s heart the most when all he wished was for Haruka to stay happy. “What’s that mean, Cecil-san? Did he tell you anything?”

No, because I had been there and known _everything_ … 

“He said he won’t return to school anymore?” Cecil surprised Haruka with his calmness.

“Ye…Yes.”

“Well, he’s right. He won’t return and he won’t debut,” Cecil said unflappably but no words could describe how he wanted to scream in despair for what really happened to Otoya. “That’s the fact and the reason why I am meeting you now because I want to tell you why did he say so. I will tell _everything_ to you and Tokiya.”

“What?” Her small frame was suddenly enveloped by Cecil’s arms. “Cecil-san?”

“Please remember, Haruka…” He pulled her closer to his chest as he whispered into her ear. “After this, even the circumstance changes into something so distressing, please be strong. People change and leave you anytime but please don’t make them as the reason for you to lose your passion for music. You know how much we, especially Otoya love your songs, right? Please continue to work for that. You have a bright future, Haruka.”

Cecil was this close to say how much he loved this girl and how much her smile had brightened up his life but he did not want to overwhelm her. Knowing that Otoya loved her all along was all she needed and he was happy for her.

That Tomochika should learn from him how to love someone earnestly without expecting the person to love her back.

“What do you mean, Cecil-san?” She inquired as he pulled away.

“You’ll know it soon. Please wait here for a while. I want to ask Masato to follow us. He also needs to know this when we confront Tomochika later.”

Haruka’s eyes sized up. She gaped at Cecil who immediately left her.

 Why did they need to confront Tomochika?

What did Cecil want to do with her _best friend_?

* * *

 

 **Tokiya** glance at Tomochika who sat next to him. For some reason, the way the girl stared at him with her grin was…

Creepy? Yes, he mentally apologized but he could not find any other suitable word. Not to mention their debut practice ended since half an hour ago but she refused to go back to her dorm. Instead, she suspiciously remarked that she wanted to accompany him in the practice room.

When in fact, Tokiya wanted to be alone for a while. Staying in his room would remind him of Otoya and it saddened him that according to his father, the redhead still refused to talk about his problem to his psychologist.  

“Is Otoya-kun okay?” She asked, out of _concern_.

“No, he did not talk at all.”

Of course, he didn’t. That guy is already insane, Tomochika thought.

Well, I guess I can make him more insane then. His beloved brother is here with me, ready to be butchered, she smiled as her hand stroked a knife which she kept under the table.

“Shibuya-san, mind to tell me why are you still here?” Tokiya asked.

“Why? You don’t like my company?” She asked, pretending to be hurt.

“Hm… No, I don’t mean it like that…” He found it hard to put his words but he really felt uncomfortable to have her around. For some reason, his heart beat so fast and he knew it was not because he liked her because he no longer felt so.   

What’s with this uneasy feeling?

“Can I ask you something, Tokiya-kun? I think this is the right moment since most of the students went back to the dorm and we can have privacy.”

Privacy? Tokiya lifted his eyebrow.

“Is what you want to talk about requires privacy?”

She chuckled at his question. Words could not describe how raring she felt to kill Tokiya but…

Let’s play a game before I stab this loser to death.    

“Well, yes because…” She put her hand on her chest. “Lately, when I am alone with you, I realized that it felt weird here...”

“You too, Shibuya-san?” Tokiya exclaimed. “Me too. But, mine started just now after practice.”

You fat liar. You have that feeling from the start since you love me, right?

Tomochika was being narcissistic without even knowing that Tokiya was not interested in her anymore.

“Eh, really? Does it mean you like me too?”

“Eh??” Tokiya titled his head, unable to contain his confusion.  

Where did that come from? I was trying to tell her that I felt uneasy… Like something scary will pop out.

“Shibuya-san, are we talking about the same thing right now?” He did not know why but his simple comment just made Tomochika blushed.    

“Why? Are you trying to say that we are not?” She looked embarrassed. “I am sorry but it seemed I got carried away.”

“Carried away? About what?”

Why did this guy act dumb? He meant his heart beat fast because he likes me, right?

“To be honest, lately, I feel something warm and soothing since you are around, Tokiya-kun. You made my heart beat so fast and I think we do have the chemistry from the start so…” She suddenly took his hand on the table before squeezing it, much to Tokiya’s shock. “Don’t you think that our destiny is written to be together, Tokiya-kun?”  

No. It’s cheesy, to be honest, Tokiya mentally remarked. He almost spat his infamous ‘don’t be ridiculous’ tone but he managed to suppress it.

What’s with this destiny and chemistry drama all of sudden? Am I so stupid or this girl is too random?

Rather than feeling happy, the uneasiness in his chest felt more suffocating now. It felt like he was watching the first horror movie that could make his hair stood on end.  

“I realized that after being rejected by someone and spending time more with you, I grow to like you, Tokiya-kun,” she got closer and much to his second shock, she cupped his face, attempting to make him meet her eyes.

What the hell?

“Not to mention your singing… I never grow tired of it. It is so beautiful. It might be more beautiful if I can have you all for myself, Tokiya-kun…” As their lips were dangerously close, Tokiya decided to cover her lips with his hand.

He felt that this situation was so wrong on many levels that he did not know where to start. Not to mention the way she used the ‘beautiful’ word was so cringe-making and urged him to vomit.

“What’s wrong, Tokiya-kun?” She asked as soon as he removed his hand.

“Well, you see…” He scratched his head, struggling to find a word while slowly standing up. “I am sorry but I think _that_ is too sudden. I cannot accept that.”

That was enough to enrage Tomochika. She knew that expression. Ichinose Tokiya did not only reject her attempt to kiss him, he also indirectly stated that he rejected her _love_.

Which was again… destroyed her pride as the femme fatale of this school.

Which was again… She was rejected by another Ichinose family member.

This can’t be. How could he reject _me_ just like his brother? This guy… I should just kill him now! 

This time, she would use this chance to the fullest. After murdering him, she would order her new minions to be the fall guys for her. Nobody would know she was the one who killed Tokiya.

“Shibuya-san?” Tokiya found his heart beat faster than usual when Tomochika avoided his eyes.

“How dare you reject me, Ichinose Tokiya…” Her voice turned so husky and creepy. “Are you saying that you rejected me because of that bitch?” Her crazy mind started to relate Haruka to the circumstance which made her three times more ridiculous.

“That… that bitch?”

“Just like your brother, you will pay for your consequence, Tokiya.”

When he could see that she was holding a knife, the door of the practice room was slammed open, revealing Cecil with his ready-to-kill face, followed by Haruka and Masato who were confused but later surprised to see Tomochika was pointing a knife at Tokiya.

“Tomo-chan, what are you doing?” Haruka asked. She never saw Tomochika acted like a psychopath before.

“This is how you will play till the end, huh!?” Cecil did not waste any second to slap her across her face as he saw the knife. His energy was too much for Tomochika so she ended up collapsing on the floor.  

“Cecil-san!/Aijima!” Haruka and Masato shouted in chorus.  

“Tokiya, are you okay? Did she hurt you?” Cecil held Tokiya’s shoulders, frantically observed his friend from head to toe.

“No, she didn’t. Thank you, Aijima-san,” Tokiya nodded, fighting with the panic and puzzlement that crawled into his veins. “But, how do you know…”

“I know it all along that sooner or later, the bitch will try to kill you, Tokiya. She wanted to get rid of you so that she will end up as a soloist instead. This bitch…” Without a warning, he took out a bottle of colorless liquid from his pocket before pouring it over her face.

“Aaaaahhhh!” Her scream turned deafening on the spot as soon as her skin was covered with the sulphuric acid. She looked desperate to find anything that could cure this pain. “My face… My face…” Tomochika touched her severely damaged face which stung her more.

The other three were too shocked to react because all of these happened so fast.

“Your face? Huh, don’t worry. It’s all ugly! Even uglier than Haruka who you call the ugly butt. How does it feel, huh!? How does the pain feel? You ruined Tokiya’s life, you threatened to make those guys raped Haruka and you…” The A from STARISH clenched his fist, almost punching her. “You even killed Otoya so you deserved more than just that disgusting face.”

“Killed Otoya?” Masato and Tokiya exclaimed in unison.

“What do you mean, Cecil-san?” Haruka pointed out.

Cecil did not directly answer them. Instead, he held Tokiya’s shoulders as he desperately needed Tokiya to forgive him.

“Aijima-san, what happened here? What did she do to Otoya? What’s with the rape and life ruin?” The vocalist’s voice quivered with confusion and anger.

“Tokiya, I am sorry. I am so sorry,” the prince suddenly sobbed. The worst nightmare crossed his mind and it felt scary until now. “I really wish that I could save your brother. I really wish. He’s my friend but I couldn’t do anything to save him.”

“What do you mean, Aijima-san? Stop with the crap! Otoya is at my house…”

Cecil shook his head. “Otoya is already dead. That slut killed him on the same day when he disappeared.”

“Wh…What?”

* * *

 

 **October** 6th, 12.16 a.m.

“Oi, what’s wrong with your eyes? Did you get punched?” Cecil exclaimed in curiosity as he stared at Otoya’s severely puffy and red eyes.

They were hiding behind a nearby bush, finding the suitable moment to show up in the building. That was where Tomochika wanted to see Otoya and that was where Haruka was kidnapped. There were three guys guarded the building and it seemed Tomochika even hired students from other schools to be her underlings.

“No,” Otoya answered, flatly. “It’s just that I was tired and I slept on the cold floor so…”

“Why do you have to sleep there when you already have a room with a nice bed?” Cecil asked swiftly.

“It’s complicated to tell you now but there is a situation between me and Tokiya so I don’t think…”

“Did you fight with him? Is your relationship with him OK?”

Otoya smiled bitterly. The fact that Tokiya just wished him to die still felt like a stab on his fragile heart.

That was how much Tokiya hated me, huh? Considering I am the curse that only brought misery to him, that’s bound to happen…

“I wish that it’s just not OK instead of he hated me so much until he wished my death.”

“What?”

“Eh? Nothing. It’s just that, I was thinking… If the rumor about our academy is true, I wish Nanami and you to be safe tonight and I wish…” His red eyes observed those guys as he made up his mind to face them. “Tokiya will still see me as his brother after this even just less than a month,” with that, he walked straight to the run-down building, ignoring the puzzled Cecil.

“Eh? Oi, Otoya!”

Cecil suppressed his fright as he followed the redhead. That was when he realized that there were more underlings there, eyeing them like they would attack the friends any time.

Which was surreal.

This is like a gangster movie. Did she really pay all of them? Cecil thought as a few boys led him and Otoya straight to the rooftop. After that, they were served with the sight of Tomochika, with her leg on Haruka’s face and a knife in her hand, waiting for them with a triumphant smirk.  

“You guys are here, Otoya-kun, Cecil,” she stated as her legs applied more pressure to Haruka’s face. The composer was lying on the floor, still losing her consciousness.

“Please let her go, Tomo-chan. She doesn’t have anything to do with this,” Otoya exclaimed flatly. He was too tired, sad and dizzy. It was unfortunate for him when Tomochika decided to create another drama on the same night when he fought with Tokiya.

“What are you talking about, Otoya-kun? Of course she has anything to do with this because she always stood in my way. She made me suffering from your rejection so it’s better for me to kill her. I am rather being a murderer than seeing you get lovey-dovey with her.”

“What are you on about, you bitch!? Let her go!” Since Otoya played the rational role, it was bound to happen for Cecil to be the emotional one instead.

“Tomo-chan, I never mentioned that I rejected you for her sake…”

“But you do love her, right?” She interrupted and that made the redhead speechless.

Cecil observed Otoya’s reaction out of curiosity.

So, Otoya did have a feeling to Haruka, huh? Didn’t see that coming. 

“See? You love her, Otoya-kun! Your face said it all!” She pointed the knife at Otoya. “You rejected me because of her! I won’t allow that! I will make sure she’s killed by her own ‘best friend’ or getting ravaged by these guys. Just so you know, they can’t wait to rape her even though she is ugly…”

“You animal! Don’t you dare, Tomochika!” Cecil screamed at the top of his lungs now. He looked around and he could swear that the way those guys eyed Haruka was so frightening.  

“No, please don’t do this to Nanami, Tomo-chan. Please…” Otoya pleaded. “This is not the right way for begging me to like you back.”

“Begging? I am not begging! I never frigging beg anything in my life because I can get anything that I want. But you, Otoya-kun… You dare to reject me for this bitch!? She is ugly for heaven’s sake! Unlike me!”

“Okay, okay! I am sorry!” Otoya frantically apologized since Tomochika was this close to stabbing Haruka. His mind simply went blank. He really did not expect this to happen when the first time he was in Saotome Academy. He tried so hard to be nice to everyone. He loved all his friends equally but for Tomochika, the kindness was unacceptable.

“Then, if you are sorry, come here, Otoya-kun. Admit yourself as mine and I will forgive you for rejecting me.”

“W…What?”

“This girl is insane, Otoya. What should we do?” Even Cecil who always came up with an idea was also lost to handle the situation.

 “Come on, baby. Please take my hand,” Tomochika gestured to Otoya to take her hand while her other hand waved the knife. “I said, come here!”

“Okay, okay,” with his shaking and cold hand, he grabbed Tomochika’s hand. She squeezed it back, enjoying his touch with a wide smile. “But please… Drop the knife. It’s dangerous. You don’t want to hurt anybody, right? I know Tomo-chan is a good girl…”

“Nope, not a chance,” she childishly replied. “I still want to playyy.”

“But, Tomo-chan…”

“Since you are going to follow me to my house and we don’t want to bring any suspicion, go and call anybody to say that you are not going back to your dorm tonight.”

“What?”

“Do it, babyyyy,” she hugged his back while running the blade over his body.

This is so…

In desperation, Otoya quickly dialed Masato’s number. That guy was the only one he could think of when his head could not stand with this vibe of violence and hatred.

“Hello, Masa.”

“Hello, Otoya.”

“Masa…” Words could not describe how much he wanted to seek the comfort from Masato. He was so scared and he needed someone wise like his friend to tell him to calm down.

“Hey, where are you!? When will you come back? Look… If you are afraid of that certain idiot right now, just sleep over in my room, okay? Jinguji is already sleeping so you don’t need to be worried about your puffy eyes or anything.”

“You are always nice to me, Masa. Thanks a lot,” it was a magic as at least, he felt more upbeat. “But, I don’t think I will come back tonight. It’s just that… I want to thank you for everything, Masa.”

“What… What do you mean?”

“Thank you for always backing me, helping me. Nobody can understand me better than you, Masa. You are so kind. No wonder Tokiya likes you.”

Call him dramatic but deep inside, he could feel this was the end of his life so he needed Masato to know how much he admired the pianist.

“Otoya, don’t talk rubbish like that. You scared me and I don’t feel flattered at all. Just where are you, Otoya? Tell me. I will pick you up.”

“No, it’s okay, Masa. I am fine,” he felt even scared when Tomochika rested her head on his shoulder, being all clingy but psycho at the same time.

“Otoya, are you crying right now?”

“No, not really. It’s just that I feel guilty about what I have done to Tokiya…”

“I already said to that idiot that you don’t mean you love Shibuya in that way but I think something happened to his ears and brain. Maybe a virus attack.”

So, until the end, Tokiya still doesn’t forgive me.

“Masa, that’s not nice.”

“I am telling you the truth. Okay, enough with your stupid brother. Where are you, Otoya?”

“I am just hanging out somewhere. I need a fresh air after all,” he met eyes with Cecil and all the friends could do was silently sharing their fear. “Masa, can you help me?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Please tell Tokiya that I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I love my brother, Masa. But if he still refuses to forgive me, I understand. After all, nobody likes a cursed child in their family, right? So, I guess, that’s all from me. Thank you, Masa,” he quickly ended the call yet his eyes widened in horror as Tomochika ordered two of her men to lift Haruka upright.

“Tomo-chan, what are you going to do to her?”

“I guess that since you became mine, I will kill this bitch so that she will never disturb us. STARISH won’t fight over her and I will remain as the goddess in our school,” she was about to raise the knife to stab Haruka when suddenly, a sudden force pushed her hand which caused her arm to hit her face instead.

It was Otoya who did not even think for one second to save Haruka.

That was enough to make Tomochika reached her very last straw.

“You scumbag! Grab him! There is no use to keep him! He will just betray me afterward!” As soon as Tomochika’s voice echoed, the rest of the men grabbed Otoya, ready for any possible and sinister order from their ‘queen’.

“Oi, what are you guys doing?” Cecil did not think much when he tried to step forward before he was grasped by two men, appeared out of nowhere.

Crap! Just how many of them exactly!?

“I don’t want to betray you but this is wrong, Tomo-chan. At least, please spare Nanami. You can make me yours but…”

“It’s too late, Otoya-kun…” She whispered, way too soft. All those pleading from Otoya was useless because she knew, the guy never loved her sincerely.  

“What?”

“I changed my mind. I realized that even if I kill her, you will never love me sincerely so….” Her glare sent the chill down to his spine. “Instead, I will make you unable to remember anyone.”

Cecil felt that his heart dropped as he had an idea about what she meant. The next thing he saw was they already put Otoya on the edge of the rooftop.

“What are you doing!?” Cecil yelled, unable to believe his eyes. He came here to save Haruka, not to see Otoya being the victim instead.

Otoya’s red eyes trembled as they glanced at the ground. This place was too high. If they really threw him…

“Goodbye, Otoya-kun. Please remember that I still love you even I am the one who killed you…” Tomochika kissed his cheek for the last time and for Otoya, it was the most outrageous thing that ever happened to him. “Okay, guys. Throw him.”

“Stop that, Tomochika! Are you out of your mind!?” Cecil’s eyes started to generate more tears. His legs turned to jelly as the sight of Otoya, being thrown to the ground registered in his mind.

It was too fast. His heart continuously prayed that this was a nightmare and hopefully somebody would wake him up and tell him he talked in his sleep. He simply could not live his life after this just to endure this malicious reality.  

“Otoya…Otoya…” Cecil pushed them away before mindlessly running to downstairs. He mentally prayed that his friend would be miraculously fine.

Yet, much to his consternation, the first thing that he saw there was a big pool of blood around Otoya’s body. More red liquid spat from his mouth while his chest moved up and down, craving oxygen.

“Otoya…” Cecil put the redhead into his arms while his friend still struggled to talk. “No, you cannot die… Otoya, please don’t.”

“Take… Care of… Nanami.”

That was the last thing that the guitarist ever said before he reached his last breath. His hand which attempted to hold Cecil’s shoulder dropped to his side while his suffocated chest stopped moving instantly.

“Otoya… Otoya!” Cecil shook the dead body but to no avail. His friend did not move an inch while his red eyes were wide open, squealing the pain that he had to go through until his last breath.

“Is he dead already?” Tomochika shouted from the rooftop, did not show any sympathy, neither to Otoya who she killed out of absurdity nor Cecil who looked like he would lose his sanity in any second.

While still bawling his eyes out, Cecil stroked Otoya’s face to close the red eyes. “I promise I will take the revenge for you, Otoya…”

Tomochika casually walked to them, along with her men. She even clicked her tongue out of fake sympathy as she scrutinized the dead body.

“You bitch! You killed my friend!” Cecil screamed hysterically as he was gripped again, both side by two of the guys.

“And you might lose another friend if you don’t shut up,” her smirk reminded him of someone.

Haruka!

That was enough to shut the prince’s mouth.

“So, Ichinose Otoya is dead, huh? What a shame. All he had to do is loving me sincerely. He is young, good-looking and possesses a great potential as an idol but he chose to end his life like this.”

“Excuse me?” Cecil yelled. “What kind of bullshit are you talking about now!? He is dead because you killed him! He didn’t choose to die like this! Thank God he never loves someone heartless like you! You didn’t even deserve Otoya, you bitch!”

“Talk all you want but in case you lose your memory, I can do this to Haruka as well,” she deadpanned. “Guys, please bury the body here as deep as possible and you, Cecil…” She pointed at Cecil. “Seal your mouth or Haruka will pay for the consequence.”

* * *

 

 **Haruka** stared blankly at the floor as her tears continued to stream down her face. She never thought that Otoya died because he tried to save her. About two hours before the abduction, she was positive that she was walking back to her dorm from the library when all of sudden she felt somebody grasped her from behind. Her head spun as they covered her mouth with a thick cloth, accompanied by strange and smelly liquid on it. On the next day, she found herself on her bed and Tomochika simply said that she found Haruka passed out in the middle of the corridor.  

Meanwhile, Masato was as shocked as her. Now, it did make sense why Otoya was so desperate to spend the rest of his time with Tokiya.

_“All I want is to get chummy again with my brother. I followed your advice, Masa. I helped him. I never thought that it became so twisted like this. I never thought that it became completely wrong…”_

_“Starting from tomorrow, I want you to stay away from Tokiya. I want to spend the rest of my time with him. I don’t want you between us. Please, Masa…”_

Otoya, I am sorry…

And Tokiya… The truth just turned his world upside down. All this time, he thought that his brother was just emotionally disturbed and could be cured soon.

Yet, in fact, Otoya was already dead that night.

“I was so worried about Haruka’s safety so I didn’t have choice but to obey this slut. But still, I secretly left my watch on where Otoya was buried because I wanted the police to find him as soon as possible but they never found it. I went to the place but my watch just vanished. That’s why I was so shocked when you and Masato said that you guys found him. After he was discharged from the hospital, I talked to Otoya. He admitted that he was dead but he was positive that just maybe… This academy fulfilled his wish to spend time and apologize to you before he left you forever, Tokiya. He never wanted to take his revenge on anyone because all he wanted to do is be with you. That was the reason why he kept everything inside but sometimes, when he felt depressed, he would cry alone because he was afraid of your reaction once this is revealed. He just went berserk when this bitch tried to hurt you out of greed. While me… I took time to reveal the truth because this bitch was so sly and would pay anyone to make her plan worked out. Since she is Haruka’s roommate, she threatened me every time I wanted to grass on her but since she also wanted to kill you, Tokiya, I couldn’t stand with her dirty trick anymore. I tried my best to find the culprits that would be her scapegoats since she was about to kill you and luckily, I found them. I already told the police about what happened to Otoya and soon, they will come to arrest this bitch and her minions.”

Hearing the word ‘arrest’, Tomochika smirked as she struggled to get up. Her face looked disgusting now but her mental state convinced her that this was the time where she would use her last bullet to attack Tokiya.

The bullet that she knew would utterly ravage the blue head.

“You smiled?” Masato’s mad voice echoed as he was sure that Tomochika was far from being guilty. “You still can smile when you had ruined your friends’ life!?” Even her plan did not harm him but no words could describe how much Masato wanted to bash the girl for killing his childhood friend.

“Of course! Whoever that deserved to die should die on the spot like Otoya! If he rejected me, he deserved to die! If anyone dared to stand in my way, he or she needed to be ditched! Like you both!” She pointed out aggressively at the speechless Haruka and Tokiya. “Both of you gave me hard time! Both of you are the reason for my failed dream! If I cannot remain as the most desirable girl and idol, there is no way I will let you guys have the honor! And just so you know, Tokiya, I was the one who ordered those guys to hit you. Why? Because when you were sick, you would rely on Masato more and that’s when Otoya would show his obsession. When you thought that he needed to rest at home, this was when I would kill you.”

“You frigging murderer!” Masato was this close to punching the girl but Cecil and Haruka were quick to hold him back.

“If I am a murderer, what that makes this jerk then?” Tomochika pointed at Tokiya. “I might be the one who ordered them to kill Otoya but all of these would not happen if this jerk did not wish his brother to die! ‘You should die instead!’. That’s what you told him, right, Tokiya!? I heard that! I knew how much you hated your brother to the point of you wished this academy to make him dead. Well done, Tokiya! Your wish came true! Finally, your brother is dead!” She screamed maniacally while she clapped her hands, congratulating the blue head.  

“Shut the hell down, Shibuya!” Masato slapped the girl, followed by Haruka and Cecil who tried to stop him from acting more violent.   

In the midst of the bedlam, Tokiya was standing there, analyzing the situation.

His wish on that day… Did it really come true?

Did the school really grant his wish for Otoya to die?

His random conversation with Otoya about ghosts suddenly rewound itself in his head.

_“Then, if you see a ghost but it looks like a human, is it still frightening?”_

_“Because I was imagining what might happen if I really become a ghost. I don’t want to disturb people. I don’t want to be bad but people still find me scary. I don’t know how I will live my life, though.”_

That was not random at all. Otoya hinted that he was the ghost because he was already dead.

“Otoya…” He senselessly left the room, running as fast as possible, ignoring Masato who shouted his name.

* * *

 

 **“Otoya!** Otoya!” Tokiya ran straight to Otoya’s room. He skipped the rest of the classes for today since Otoya was the most important now. He even ignored the maid of the house when she asked the reason for his sudden visit.  

“Otoya!” He slammed the door open, revealing a very calm Otoya, staring at the window. The redhead grinned which was the rarest thing that Tokiya ever saw after his disappearance.

Why is he smiling? Does he want to say goodbye now?

“You knew it, right?” The soft voice stopped his attempt to hug the redhead.

“Otoya, I am sorry,” his tears immediately dropped, portraying just how much he felt sorry to ruin Otoya’s life.  

“No, you don’t need to be sorry. In fact, I am the one who should apologize for not telling you sooner. I really meant to but I don’t want to see you getting hurt for this. Not after you had a great suffer when mummy left you. I don’t want you to blame yourself…”

“It was my fault. I shouldn’t wish you to die…”

“No, that’s not your fault, Tokiya. I think everybody would do that when they were in your shoes because since I have been here, I had brought nothing but bad luck in your life. If I had not been such a pathetic kid who always needed help from someone nice like you, if I had not agreed to be adopted in your family, you would remain happy with your family, with your friends. Your life would be smooth, unlike now… I am sorry for being such a burden…”

“Why are you blaming everything on yourself when it was obvious it’s me who killed you!? You were dead on the same night when I wished your death! You are supposed to hate me, Otoya!” Tokiya screamed, followed by a few drops of tears flew from his eyes. Why would Otoya always show this kind expression when he clearly did not deserve it?

“Because you are the reason why I keep alive, Tokiya. You saved me… You gave me a family, a new life… Meeting you and being your family is the best feeling ever for an orphan like me and I will never forget that just because of this,” he approached Tokiya before grabbing his shoulders. “I love you, dad and mummy. You guys are the nicest people that I have ever met in my life. Thank you for all the care. Thank you for giving me the shelter…”

“No, I don’t want to hear this. You are trying to say goodbye now, right? You cannot leave me just like that, Otoya,” Tokiya looked down, allowing more tears to drop. “There are so many things that I want to do with you, Otoya… After we debut, there are so many shows that I want to attend with you. I am…”

He was left speechless when as soon as he lifted his head to search for a pair of red eyes, there was only him, standing alone in the room.

Where is… Otoya?

“Otoya…”

Only the silence replied to him which tormented him more.

“You are still here, right, Otoya?” His eyes wandered around, getting scared to not receive any response. “You can’t leave me this fast. That’s mean, Otoya.”

No one would answer him.

“This is not funny, Otoya. Don’t hide like this. I want to see you.”

He just refused to accept the cruel reality.

“So, you are really leaving? Am I losing another family member for real?”  

On the spur of the moment, something crossed his mind.

The watch… Aijima-san’s watch…

He ran away, determined to go to the abandoned building to see Otoya’s body.

Meanwhile, as lifeless as he was, Otoya was still standing in the room, bawling his eyes out as he realized that Tokiya was no longer could see him, nor hear him.

Tokiya can’t see me anymore. Since he’s not afraid of ghosts, I thought that if he still can see me, it will be fine for me but…

If you can’t see me anymore, I guess this is the final goodbye from me, Tokiya.

* * *

 

 **Tokiya** could see a few police cars were parked in front of the building. He rushed to the spot where the police, Hyuga, Shining Saotome, and his friends (except Cecil) surrounded. Not far from them, he saw Masato, leaning against a tree while staring blankly at a certain body.

“Masato…”

“Tokiya…” That was the saddest expression that he ever saw from Masato and of course, it did not indicate something pleasant. “Otoya’s body… They just found the watch that Aijima left.”

Tokiya quickly joined the circle around the corpse until his legs gave way out of shock.

“Otoya…” He was even shocked when the blood was still fresh over Otoya’s face. It looked the same when Otoya was just buried.

It looked the same when Tokiya and Masato found the redhead in the building, a week after his disappearance.  

“Tokiya-kun,” Natsuki hugged him from behind, trying to comfort the vocalist since that was the only thing he could do as a friend. He glanced at Syo, who kneeled down beside Tokiya, silently cried as the fact that he just lost a close friend who always gabbed with him about soccer and game hit his head.

“Hijirikawa…” Meanwhile, Ren stared softly at his roommate who surprisingly dropped countless tears which was so unlike him.

“I am okay.”

“As if,” Ren gave his roommate a hug. “I can’t believe all of these happened to Ikki. What had he done wrong?”

“Don’t do this. This is embarrassing,” the baritone voice who always scolded Ren for being lazy ended up cracking.  

“This is not embarrassing. I know you are as hurt as Icchi,” Ren tightened his hug and he could feel how tense Masato felt right now.

“Tokiya…” The blue eyes averted to Tokiya who was screaming and crying over the dead body. “It’s must be hard for him. I really wish I can comfort him like how I usually did, Jinguuji but I…” More tears dropped on Ren’s shoulder as he talked.  

Ren bit his lips. Who could, though?

When their dearest Otoya was no longer in this world.

“Tokiya passed out, Jinguuji,” Masato muttered as he gazed blankly at Tokiya who was suddenly unconscious in Natsuki’s arms. “I wonder how Kazuki _ojisan_ will react to this. He already sounded so sad on the phone just now. I cannot stand to see him once he arrives here.”

“Oi, Tokiya! Tokiya, wake up!!” Syo’s voice was the loudest since he tried to make Tokiya gained his consciousness. 

“Please wake up, Tokiya-kun!” Natsuki assisted, patting Tokiya’s cheek.  

Everything turned into pandemonium since the truth was revealed and the body was found but in this state, Masato was not able to do anything.

He was just that despondent and Ren knew it.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Otoya’s suffer ended here ;) Of course, a nice person like him would turn everyone’s world upside down once he left and not to mention he died because of someone’s arrogance. Nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter (I tried my best to explain everything that had been kept as the secrets but if there is still confusion in your head, feel free to ask me) and feel free to let me know what do you think about this chapter, okay? I can’t wait to know that ^^


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the meaningful comment, Naniwise-san! ^^

**DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA. I just own the plot.**

**Masato** slowly opened the door, revealing a room that was used to be the source of commotion in his life. It was devastatingly spacious without the two owners. The first owner whose room side was painted with navy blue color just gave up and scared to attend the school again.

While the other side of the room, which where you could see two guitars on the wall and a shelf of comics and CDs just lost its owner recently.

Masato curved in a smile that suggested an unspeakable pain. Normally, as soon as he opened the door room, Otoya would whine how merciless Tokiya was with him while Tokiya would defend himself, saying that Otoya was the one who picked the fight.

“All I asked was teaching me how to sing but you made it sounded like I just handed you a bomb! That’s not fair when you even turned into a transvestite to help Masa in acting!”

“At least, he didn’t hide my school uniform if I cannot help him! He’s well-behaved, unlike you, barbarian!”

“Masa, Tokiya called me barbarian!”

“But he was the one who started the fight, Masato!”

And he, as the unwilling ‘mother’ for those brothers would nag at them back, applying all kind of possible parenting that he could think of when he was not even married yet. Because of them, he even read any book which could assist him in dealing with a pair of grown-up but immature siblings.

But now, his morning was simply mind-numbing and he hated it. He missed the noise. He missed the drama.

He missed Otoya and he wanted Tokiya to come back to school.   

Every morning, even he knew that those Ichinose siblings were not there, he would try to marshal his courage to go to school by going to their room first. He kept the key so he could do whatever he pleased. He would clean the room as his stress relief, hoping that when Tokiya made his mind to come back again, the blue head did not need to clean the room.

After school, he would go to Tokiya’s house, trying every single method that he could think of to coax the latter to go to school. All those practices for his debut when it was around the corner were postponed because it felt pointless without Tokiya. They already promised to each other to debut together so it was his responsibility to remind Tokiya of the promise.

But so far, everything he tried was in vain. Tokiya still locked himself up in his room without even bothering to eat or take a shower. When somebody tried to comfort him, he would stay silent or even getting more scared. He was so quiet but when he did talk, he only mumbled how he wished Otoya was still alive now.

After a few hours done with the ‘talking-with-the-wall’ session since Tokiya did not even bother to vent what he felt on Masato like usual, the pianist would go back to his dorm, writing calligraphy to release his stress. He convinced himself every day to be strong for Tokiya and Kazuki. They were like his family so he would try his best to help them to cure the pain after they lost Otoya.

Yet, with Tokiya decided to not talk and rely on him which was so unlike him, Masato felt lost. He did not know what to do anymore.

_“Please, after that, you will stay beside Tokiya no matter what because I know, he will need you the most. Don’t let him all by himself. Please, Masa…”_

Masato smirked bitterly as he was reminded of Otoya’s words. Nobody could understand how much he wanted to flick Otoya’s forehead and nagged at the redhead mercilessly for saying such baseless pleading if he was still here.

If only he could do something cheesy like writing and sending a letter to Otoya…

_Dear, Otoya…_

_Since when you became this mean, huh? You left us, you left me without even properly saying goodbye. How dare you! Don’t you realize your friends love you and want to see your smile and presence every day? I won’t be sad this much if you at least say goodbye to me properly. For heaven’s sake, where is your manner, you twerp!?I didn’t feed you breakfast every day to let you leave me like this, you ungrateful child!_

_Not to mention the way you left us… It’s upsetting. It’s beyond the pale. What had you done wrong? What did you do to deserve this kind of fate? I knew you have a heart of gold. You had tried so hard to be nice to everyone but why that damn Shibuya chose to kill you? Why did she choose to separate you from us, from your family, from Tokiya? How can an animal like that even exist?_

_At least if you want to leave us like this, please tell me how to help Tokiya overcoming his depression. You know what’s happening right now, right? It’s crazy. Aijima and Nanami were so sad with what happened to you and then, there is this jerk who we believe is Shibuya’s accomplice. Guess what? He or she had uploaded the video of Tokiya scolded and wished you dead on that night in our school social media. Everybody, especially your fans blackmailed Tokiya when he was in school. They threw trash at him. They destroyed his locker, insulted him in the cafeteria and saying that he should commit suicide for making you dead. They even broke into his room and destroyed his laptop. They also tore his books and clothes. Guess what? He only could stand such ill-treatment for three days and now, he refused to go back to school because he was afraid of everyone._

_Everyone… Including me._

_And because of that, for the first time ever, I feel it’s hard to handle him. No matter how many times your daddy and I tried to console him, he chose to bottle up and when he wasn’t aware that we observed him, he would cry until he fell asleep. This is insane because I can’t help him at all. And you said that he needed me the most after you left? What a crap!_

_You know how loud we are to each other, right? We settled everything through honesty but when he chose to endure it by himself, I felt so lost. So, please… Please help your brother, Otoya._

_Just, please…_

“Ma-kun! Haru-chan!”

“Masato-kun!” He could feel Natsuki from his side patted his arm, seeking his attention.

As soon as he was dragged back to the harsh reality, everyone in A class looked at him including Ringo.   

“Are you okay, Ma-kun, Haru-chan?” Ringo was standing in the middle of the class while holding his hips.

Masato could see that Haruka was also forlorn like him. It must be harder for her since both Tomochika and Otoya’s seats were just next to and in front of her.

“If you both need to share your problem, you guys know that I am always here for you, right?” Ringo said with a face that showed empathy.

Haruka slowly nodded before staring blankly at her note.

No, I don’t want to share problem but I want to make Tokiya come to school again, Masato mentally answered.  

* * *

 

 **The** next day, Masato walked along the corridor, heading listlessly to nowhere in particular. It was his new routine since he was eager to get to the bottom of something that bothered his mind lately other than Tokiya.

He swore that he would find the culprit. He would bash them and…

“Hey, Kaito. That Tomochika is not even beautiful anymore. Do you really have to upload the video and tell everyone that he’s the one who killed Otoya?” Maybe God just answered his prayer because as soon as he passed B class, he could hear someone asked his friend.

“Well, I did not upload the video because of her order, Shuu. She turned so ugly and even blind right now, so why should I care about her? I did it because apart from it’s true that he killed his own brother, I really wanted to see that Ichinose being brought down. Tomochika is right though. Because of the so-called perfect bastard, those teachers ignored us. They eulogized Ichinose everyday… That was annoying!”

“Then, if the fact that he is perfect because he worked hard every day made him annoying, what makes you then?”

The friends recoiled as they recognized the deep voice that they did not want to hear the most when they talked ill about Tokiya.

“Hijirikawa-san…” Shuu exclaimed, losing his breath for a while. His eyes widened as he stared at the figure behind Kaito.

As soon as Kaito turned around to apologize and say that Masato must hear them wrong, he could feel a big fist hit his prominent cheekbone. Blood squirted from his mouth, sending the female students to scream in horror.    

“What the hell are you doing, you asshole!?” Kaito squealed in anger while holding his victimized cheek. What’s with the hand!? Is it made of metal or something?

“I am about to ask you the same thing,” Masato remarked, suggesting a great danger while eyeing the student like an angry lion. Everyone else turned panicky because this was the first time for everyone to see Hijirikawa Masato openly went berserk.

“You…”

“Why? Do you want to fight? Bring it on!” The sight of Masato’s great figure was enough to scare the hell out of them.

“It’s better don’t, Kaito. He learned judo,” as soon as Shuu whispered a warning, Kaito stepped back, acting defeatist.

“Then, if you don’t want to fight, mind to tell me why did you upload the video and spread the slander about Tokiya?”

“It’s not even a slander, Hijirikawa. It’s the truth. That jerk killed his own brother. We can’t have that kind of bastard to be the exemplary student of this school. It’s a crying shame.”

“Why everybody kept saying that he was the murderer when Shibuya was the one who killed Otoya?”

“Because he wished his death and it must be granted by this school. From the video itself, we can see how much that Ichinose hated his brother. If the rumor about this school is not true, what about Otoya? He couldn’t come back as a ghost for less than a month if it was not because of this school, right? He was already dead when he disappeared on that day. Plus, don’t you think this is a great chance to get rid somebody overrated like Ichinose? Don’t you feel this is unfair since all the teachers keep extolling his talent? What do you say, you guys?” Kaito’s attempt to gain support from other students was triumphant since most of them shouted back incoherently but clearly showed that they agreed with Kaito.  

“No, he deserved to be extolled because he worked harder than everyone else,” when Masato did not show any sign of being swayed by his random ‘demonstration’, Kaito sighed in frustration, mixed with sarcasm.  

“This is such a waste of time. I should realize this from the start. You are going to back him because you are dating him, right, Hijirikawa? The rumor about you guys being in a relationship is true, right?”

“Stop with the crap. Stick to our main point, won’t you?” Masato clenched his fist while attempting to be more patient. If this idiot kept rambling, he could not promise anyone to hold back from smashing all Kaito’s teeth.

“So, you are dating him for real?” Kaito laughed, followed by the sneers from others. Crazily enough, some female students even beamed in excitement, knowing their favorite couple was real.

“What are you guys so happy about?” Masato scowled at the girls who immediately zipped their mouths before punching Kaito again. This time, the guy collapsed onto the floor with another bruise. “Sorry for disappointing you guys but we are straight. Oh, wait! Why should I feel sorry for being straight? Nah, whatever.”

“And speaking about our relationship, even I don’t see why I should tell this to outsiders like you guys, I think I should make this clear so that no more absurd rumors will spread around. Tokiya and Otoya are the most precious friends that I have ever had. They are my childhood friends and for me and Otoya, Tokiya is the brother figure to us. He was the one who comforted us when we got scared of ghosts and bullies. Tokiya was the one who helped me to be able to achieve my dream without ruining my relationship with my father. He was the one who made aware what I wanted to do with my life. I learned all idol skills from him. I was with him for ten years. I know who he is and I don’t hate him for insulting Otoya, not because he is my friend but I know deep inside, he didn’t mean it. He loves Otoya but there’s a circumstance between them that made him despised Otoya for a while which I don’t want to tell you guys because it’s really personal. For Otoya, even he’s already gone, I know that guy long enough to be convinced that he never hated Tokiya. Otoya was a lonely orphan. He needed his parents the most but Tokiya was the one who overcame the loneliness and Tokiya was the one who gave him the second chance to have a family. You guys just a bunch of outsiders who are extremely judgmental with everything based on one heck of video and even wanted to bring down Tokiya when all this time, I believe he had helped most of you guys to improve your skills. If you guys think playing judges would make you guys the true fans of Otoya and so-called pacifists for this school, you guys are totally wrong! Otoya absolutely disapproved this and you guys are just the worst!”   

“What’s going on here!?” A terrifying voice that scared the heck out of the students hit them which eventually ended the platonic drama. Most of them sat in their own seat as soon as Hyuga Ryuya came into their sight.

“Hijirikawa, what are you doing here?” Ryuya glared at the poker-faced Masato.  

Punching and lecturing these jerks, the scion mentally answered.     

* * *

 

 **Ren** was lying on the sofa with his hand on his forehead. He stared blankly at the ceiling, thinking about each of his friends who got suffered enough because of Shibuya Tomochika. Yet, the image which distracted him the most was…

Otoya, the cheerful and upbeat redhead who always made him smiled at his innocence and kindness. He missed the boy a lot and even he looked the calmest out of them when they saw Otoya’s dead body, it did not mean it did not hit him hard. Instead, he refused to go to school for a few days because everything about the school reminded him of Otoya.  

Right in front of him was Syo, sitting on a chair, playing with his fedora out of boredom. Since Otoya’s death, he refused to play soccer. The image of Otoya smiled and passed the ball to him were distracting enough for him to focus on what he was doing at that time. He also missed to get excited with Otoya whenever a new game got released. He would let Otoya to be the first one to know about his new game collection and they would binge playing the game on weekend.

But now, not anymore.   

“Oi, Ren.”

“What?”

“It’s so weird to be here when there are only us…” He stated the obvious. He looked around their favorite practice room and words could not describe how empty it looked like. The piano missed Masato and Haruka. Those chairs missed the rest of his friends.

Usually, there were seven of them and Haruka. Even they would debut as a soloist, they loved practicing together even half of the time was used to tease each other. Cecil and Ren would flirt with Haruka which ended up with a tussle with Masato who acted more like a gentleman to the composer. Otoya and Natsuki would have fun with each other and sometimes if the mood was there, Natsuki would secretly hug Haruka in the middle of the tussle which caused a major uproar in the room. Syo and Otoya would be the peaceniks before Syo ended up being the angriest one after Ren teased his height, followed by Natsuki who randomly forced the small boy to put on a dress since he was so cute.

Tokiya would be in his own world once he practiced but sometimes, he would join the fight and enrage Syo even more.

While Tomochika… She joined them sometimes but as the mature one in the group, she would spend time with Tokiya the most.

Little did they know in the midst of the mirth, there were dark feelings lingering around which were jealousy, arrogance, and betrayal from Tomochika. Little did they know those feelings ended up taking Otoya away from them.   

Now, she was their worst enemy. It was good to know that because of the strong acid attack from Cecil, she lost her sight and was still hospitalized. No surgery could save her face.   

“What should we do next? We tried to console Nanami but she is still sad…” Syo remarked. The composer was strong enough to attend school after her first love got killed from saving her and the best friend who she always looked up to all this time tried to kill her but just like Masato, she spent her time by being spaced out and sometimes reading in the library.  

“We tried to persuade Cecil to come back to school but to no avail…” Ren added, reminded himself of the prince who said his debut would be meaningless without Otoya. “We visited Tokiya but he did not even want to talk to us…”

“And Hijirikawa…” Syo gripped one of the fedora sides, clenching his teeth. “I never saw he that down before. He’s always the strongest one when it comes to hiding his emotion but now… I can’t stand to see him like that, Ren.”

“What that makes me then? I have to see him every day. You have no idea how upsetting for me to know that my roommate is suffering but I can’t do anything to help him. It’s even tougher when you realized that all this time, he was the one who helped everyone the most.”

“I know right…”

As the result, they did not know what was the best way to help Masato.

“All of them suffered because of the psychopath Shibuya… We cannot just give up like this and let everything goes the way she wanted. We should help them more!”

“Guys, this is terrible!” All of sudden, the door was slammed open, revealing Natsuki who was surprisingly did not attack Syo first as the victim of his bear hug.

“Why, Natsuki?” Syo asked, lazily.

“Masato-kun… He was summoned to the principal’s room for hitting a student. Apparently, he found who was the one who uploaded the video.”

“What!?” Ren and Syo echoed.

* * *

 

 **For** the first time in the academy history, Hyuga, Ringo, and Shining Saotome showed sympathy to the misbehaved student because he was…

Hijirikawa Masato. Unlike his usually collected exterior, he looked more depressed. His eyes stared blankly at the floor, did not care the slightest bit about what was going to happen to him later. This sight was heart-breaking for the teachers who knew just how well-behaved he was and just how loyal he was as s friend of Ichinose siblings.  

“Ma-kun, how’s Tokiya-chan nowadays?” Ringo initiated.  

“Same routine. He cried, refused to eat and talk. He cried most of the time and he fell asleep when he’s tired. He didn’t even take shower. He stank,” Masato answered, flatly.  

“Do you think that he was going to quit school?” Hyuga asked. “Are you going to let him quit just like that?”

“No, of course not,” the teachers could see that the scion was holding back from shedding tears. “I’ll never give up. I will make sure that he will come to school soon. He just needs more motivation, more reasons to do so. We know how much this debut means to him. It’s his life. I will never let him let this chance go just because he is sad and blaming himself for Otoya’s death which is the thing that Otoya dislikes the most. I already promised Otoya to never leave Tokiya by himself.”

The teachers nodded.

“Is there anything else you need, Mr. Hijirikawa? We can help you…”

“Yes, principal.” 

“What is it, Mr. Hijirikawa?” Shining Saotome asked.

“As a principal and the teachers, can you guys do something with the students? I mean, yes, one has to be tough to survive in this industry no matter how harsh and cruel the public can be to us because that’s what a public figure has to go through in the first place but… I am sorry but I don’t agree with the opinion. Why should the victim have to cope with the cruelty from the public when the one who should fix themselves is the one who is cruel in the first place? The fact that their opinion about Tokiya changed just because of the video… They decided to just believe in what they decided to believe which is a shame. And one more thing, what gives them the right to destroy his belongings, insulted him and forced him to commit suicide? Not to mention, some of them including Shibuya hate Tokiya because he is perfect when that’s not even his fault. He just did his utmost to achieve his goal which made him perfect in the process. I am sorry but if this is the attitude that they showed to you guys when Tokiya is not the only guy who is talented in Japan, I am afraid this school will have a bad image for keeping those sick future idols. In future, they will just stab anyone talented in the back in so please fix this situation as soon as possible. And please, considering how stuck-up Shibuya was, you might as well give some extra education to others about not being so arrogant just because they are going to be an idol. If not, there are some people who are going to be killed like Otoya and their friends will be so devastated like Aijima and Nanami.”

Those three teachers were left speechless.

“I am sorry if I sounded rude but I think some necessary precautions should be applied as soon as possible after what had happened to my friends. Thank you for your time. I have Fujiwara sensei’s class to attend so I’ll leave first,” Masato bowed before slowly leaving the room.  

* * *

 

 **“Tokiya,”** Masato knocked on the door for the nth time but it just stayed silent as usual. “Tokiya, this is me. Can I get in?”

“I think he’s already asleep, Masato,” Kazuki interrupted from his room. “I noticed lately he would sleep straight from evening to midnight. Maybe he was tired from constant crying.”

“No surprise,” Masato commented. He admired Kazuki’s strength the most. Losing his wife and son was not easy but he managed to not let his emotion overwhelmed him.  

“Here’s the key,” Kazuki handed the spare key to Masato.

“Thank you, _ojisan_.”

“You’re welcome.”

* * *

 

 **As** soon as Masato got into the room, he was served with the sight of the very messy room. This was the sight that you would never expect from a clean freak like Tokiya unless he was totally crazy and needed something to give vent to his unstable emotion. Not only the belongings were all over the place, the room was so silent, without the heart-rending sobbing which also pleaded Otoya to come back.

He’s really sleeping, I guess, Masato thought as he slowly headed towards the other side of the bed, near the window.

He sighed heavily as a tall figure was sleeping soundly on the floor without blanket or pillow. His friend still wore his school uniform which consisted of a pair of dark green trousers and a white shirt. That was the last outfit he had even wore since after he decided to not come back to school, he did not even bother to change his clothes. Meanwhile, Masato could see a small pool of transparent liquid, next to Tokiya’s head which obviously was his tears considering how wet his eyelashes were. His lunch remained untouched and flies started to crave for it.  

“What should I do with you, Tokiya?” Masato whispered, being clueless about what to do. If he woke Tokiya up to eat at least, his friend would flinch and avoid him at any cost. He was that scared when anybody tried to meet him.

At last, Masato grabbed a pillow, carefully putting it below Tokiya’s head. He covered the lethargic body with a dark blue duvet, silently hoped that Tokiya would not catch a cold for sleeping on the floor.

After talking with Kazuki for a while, he went back to the school, getting surprised to see some extravagant meals on his study desk.

“Where did this come from?” He mumbled before his eyes caught the sight of a small card next to the meals. He read it, getting surprised for the second time to see how messy and long the writing was.

_‘Oi, Hijirikawa! Eat this to avoid starvation or I will stuff them into your mouth!’_

_‘Syo-chan, please don’t use words that suggested violence. Masato-kun, we made this special for you. We are so worried about you. Please take care of your health and eat properly.’_

_‘Don’t worry, Hijirikawa. Even he did say ‘we’ but Natsuki didn’t cook at all. I promise it’s not poisonous.’_

_‘What do you mean, Syo-chan? I already put my special soup there.’_

_‘Naniii??? Hijirikawa, don’t eat the souppp!!’_

Masato chuckled and it was the most cheerful reaction that he ever had for a while. These guys were such a moron. All they had to do was removing the sinister soup but they just decided to be funny and warned him in this small card instead.

“Ah, you already came back?” As soon as the door was slowly open, Masato was served with the sight of Ren, Syo and Natsuki appeared with warm smiles.

That was when he realized he had friends who he could rely on. He was used to help his friends so the idea of being helped apart from by Tokiya was a bit weird for him.

“Guys, I…”

“Why? Do you want to know why I didn’t write on the card? Because it’ll be embarrassing for me to write something cheesy while still being your roommate, right? Not to mention you will say how disgusting I am and you’ll tell me to scram,” Ren dramatically put his hand on his broad chest, pretending to be hurt.

“Glad you know,” Masato chuckled but words could not describe how happy they were to see Masato smiled.

“Wahhhh, Masato-kun came back with his cute smile!” Natsuki trapped the blue head into his infamous bear hug. Unlike usual when Masato felt embarrassed, awkward and suffocated, this time, he could feel the warmth. He did need the support of his friends.

“Sorry for the lame meals by the way. I know that’s not even close to your superb cooking but we don’t know what’s the suitable method for us to cheer you up,” Syo said.

“It’s okay. This is the best. I can see how much effort you guys had to put on them,” Masato glanced at the meals. “Thank you, guys.”

“You’re welcome. You see, we just figured something out, Hijirikawa,” Ren added. “After what happened, you, Icchi, Cecil and Lady were the ones who got affected the most after Ikki left so we discussed about this for a while and we reached the conclusion that we should help you first so that we can help the others.”

“What do you guys mean?”

“You need to be strong so that you can help Tokiya. You are the only one who can help him to forgive himself. After Tokiya recovers, we will make him coaxing Cecil to come back to this school because they both had been affected the most by Otoya’s death so maybe Tokiya can let Cecil know that he’s not alone,” Syo explained.  

“And then, we will let Cecil-kun coax Haru-chan since he knows just how to make Haru-chan feels better,” Natsuki supplied.

“I know that sounded like a food chain but we think someone broken-hearted like them need someone who they can trust… Someone that they can share their sadness. By hook or by crook, you have to start changing, Hijirikawa…” Ren put on a serious face as he grabbed Masato’s shoulders. “I know this cannot change the fact that Ikki is dead but at least, we can assist our friends so that they will become happy again. I bet that’s what Ikki wants the most. For us to be happy again. If he’s watching us somewhere, don’t you want to make him keep smiling?”

It was silent for a while.

“So, you guys are not blaming Tokiya for Otoya’s death?” Masato asked.

“No,” Syo and Natsuki echoed.

“Of course not. We believe in him and he is our friend. We should be the ones who support and protect him from those judgmental bastards,” Ren said.  

That was the words that Masato needed to hear the most. There were still kind people who believed in Tokiya.

“Thank you, guys. I really appreciated that,” Masato smiled.

Yes, he should help himself first and then, he would try to do the same thing to Tokiya again, starting from tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all! I hope I'll be diligent enough to write and publish the next chapter since I feel so impatient to complete this story >< As usual, feel free to let me know what do you think about this chapter, okay? Seen you soon! :D


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The recovery and a surprise…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comment and kudos! :D

DISCLAIMER: I DON’T OWN UTA NO PRINCE SAMA. I just own the plot.

**“Did…** Did you just say… Masato…”

Their eyes widened in fright and guilt as soon as they saw how despondent Tokiya was now (they still could not contain their shock from seeing him being this disheveled either). The vocalist eyed each of them in extreme anxiety, hoping that it was just a sick joke but none of them looked at him straight into his eyes. Superficially, they seemingly did not have the mettle to explain further about Masato’s car crash to Tokiya but in reality…

Ren who stood the closest to the stairway was secretly signaling Masato to cut the crap and revealed himself before Tokiya went out of his mind again. Once was enough and as much as he loved to see Tokiya’s reaction when he got ribbed, Ren was not that callous to see his friend cried again because…

For goodness sake, Hijirikawa, this is a bad idea! This dude is this close to bawl his eyes out again so please, come here and cut it out already! The ladies’ man mentally said when he did not see any sign of Masato appeared from downstairs. He started to feel rueful to agree on Masato’s dramatic idea.

_“You guys will tell him that I was in a car crash while I was on the way here. Please make it sound like I am in critical condition and what not so that he will cry. Why should we make him cry, you ask? It’s because when he knows it’s only a prank, he will be embarrassed and more expressive. It will be easier for me to comfort him too.”_

But, I still think this prank is cruel, though… Poor Tokiya-kun. I can’t stand to see him crying like this, Natsuki thought. The big guy tried to form a telepathic communication with Kazuki, asking what should they do next since they did not expect to see Tokiya breaking down this soon but Tokiya’s father just avoided his eyes, implying that he did not know either.

Meanwhile, Syo looked the ‘worst’ out of them. His tears quickly streamed down his face as he had been targeted by Tokiya to answer him. His reaction was enough to fulfill the dramatic demand in this setting but just like others, he mentally prayed so that Masato would stop pulling such a terrible prank on his own friend.

“ _Ne,_ Syo. Tell me. Masato is alright, right? He was fine, right?” Tokiya grabbed Syo’s shoulders while staring at him straight into his eyes.   

“Oi, guys. Help me…” Syo winced as Tokiya’s long fingers sank deeper into his muscle.

“He’s not, Tokiya-kun. He’s in the hospital right now,” Natsuki confirmed, secretly eyeing Ren to save this situation.

“No, it can’t be…”

All of sudden, the so-called victim of a car crash, Masato slowly climbed the stairs with an annoyingly amused face.

“At last, we can hear your voice, muttering about things besides ‘I am sorry, Otoya,’” he said, much to Tokiya’s shock. His hands slowly dropped from Syo’s shoulders, much to the small boy’s relief.  

Tokiya gazed at his very healthy best friend out of confusion. He saw how contrite the way the other four looked at him and that was when he could put two and two together. If his emotion was stable enough, he would snap right away like the usual him but his tired eyes just blinked at what happened. The next thing he did was he dragged his dog-tired body into his room, attempting to isolate himself again.

But Masato knew him well enough to predict what would he do so he was quicker to stop Tokiya from being melancholic by himself again. He forced the door open before shutting it right in front of others’ faces.

“Oi, that’s so rude! Wait, he even locked the door!? ” Syo exploded as he pounded on the door aggressively. They came to visit Tokiya but this was how Masato going to treat them?

“He ignored us just like that!? Oi, Hijirikawa! Let us see Tokiya too!”

“Let him be, _Ochibi-chan_. After all, what he did is right,” Ren added, patting Syo’s shoulder.

“What do you mean?”

“It seemed Masato-kun doesn’t want Tokiya-kun to get more scared since there are a few of us here. In this kind of state, Tokiya-kun knows everybody blamed him for Otoya-kun’s death so Masato-kun just wants to protect him,” Natsuki’s supplied.

“Oh, I see…” Syo felt embarrassed for not being able to control his temper so he turned to Kazuki to apologize. “I apologized for the rudeness, _ojisan_. I just felt frustrated because I also want to see Tokiya.”

“Nah, it’s okay,” being a cool dad as he was, Kazuki understood Syo perfectly. “Besides, we still can peep on them, right?” He showed the spare key that he took out from his pocket.   

They shifted gazes at each other before grinning triumphantly.  

* * *

 

**Meanwhile,** in the bedroom, as soon as Masato closed the door, Tokiya quickly made his way to his bed, sitting there silently without even glancing at his best friend. He felt so embarrassed to be that credulous but he felt more than embarrassed to cry dramatically like just now.

But, he could not help it. There was no way he wanted to lose Masato as well after breaking down because of Otoya.   

“Man, look at this mess,” Masato started nagging as soon as his eyes wandered around the room. “Do you really want to stay in this kind of room, Tokiya? How come a clean freak like you even stands this kind of mess?”

Expectedly, Tokiya did not respond but Masato could see that Tokiya was quivering and hoping that he would leave him as soon as possible.

Everyone looked so scary to him.

“Are you afraid of me, Tokiya?” Masato could see that the blue head recoiled as soon as he asked. “But you still care enough about me to the point of you cried like a girl, right?”

At this rate, he missed Tokiya’s temper and glare every time Masato did something that he disapproved. Yet, the blue head still zipped his mouth while his eyes stared at particularly nowhere.

“I am sorry for the prank but I have no choices. It feels tough for me if you stay silent because you know, when you cry in front of me, you tend to vent everything on me and I can know what you have in your mind.”

Still…  

“Come on, Tokiya. Please say something. This is really awkward. You had always been loud and annoying when I was around,” he playfully encouraged Tokiya to open up while holding his shoulder but the blue head just sat there, still quivering.

He is scared, apparently, Masato thought as he took a seat just behind Tokiya.

“If you are afraid of me, it’s okay. I will just stay here but please, listen to me. Only once and after that, I will leave you. I just want you to hear me out. Please, Tokiya…”

Receiving no responses from the vocalist which was absolutely predictable, Masato continued with his ramblings. 

“To be honest, it feels lonely without you guys, Tokiya,” he formed a sad smile, recalled the moment where his morning was so dull and quiet without Tokiya and Otoya’s squabbles. “Maybe it’s because I was so used to have you and Otoya around since we were small so I feel adrift when we lost Otoya and now… You didn’t even want to go to school anymore.”

Tokiya just stared blankly at the window but Masato already mustered up his courage to not give up easily. 

“Hey, do you remember when we were seven-year-olds, you always hugged and protected me when I got bullied by those cheeky kids? At that time, I seriously thought that you were Superman, you know. I don’t know if you really wanted to imitate Superman at that time since every time I reminded you of those heroic and cheesy lines that you said to the bullies, you would cringe and tell me to scram. Nevertheless, your timing was always right to save me. Just like Otoya, instead of choosing those popular superheroes as my idol, I bragged about you in my class. I told everyone that you’re like my brother but at that time I never realized that we are the same age. That was embarrassing, right? Sorry for scolding you every time you habitually stroked my head. I know you still see me as that short little brother but I would cringe at how naïve I was back then.”

“Do you remember when you destroyed all those flowers from _otousan_ ’s _Ikebana_ class because you wanted to rebel against him? You told _otosan_ that I couldn’t cope with his strictness. You admitted that you were the one who would sneak me out so that I could go to the annual festival when Otoya was the one who insisted to ask me to join you guys. When _otousan_ hit you, you still took the blame by yourself. You know what? At that night, Otoya called me while crying. He said that you shouldn’t be punished when he was the one who wanted me to follow you guys to the festival. Actually, there were so many occasions that made Otoya and me thought that you were so protective towards us and we were so indebted for that.” 

“And do you remember when I grew the tallest out of us three? Otoya pouted at how he ended up as the shortest one while you complained that it felt awkward to stroke my hair anymore. But still, you said that you were happy because I could grow this tall,” Masato let out a chuckle even the sadness slowly tried to overwhelm him. “You don’t know how much I miss all of those things, _oni-chan_.”

Masato could hear a husky gasp from Tokiya. His head locked down as his shoulders visibly trembled with the thought of somebody that he missed so much.   

“Otoya…” He mumbled with tears streamed down his face and Masato knew why.

_‘Oni-chan’_ was Otoya’s favorite name. Otoya really wanted to address Tokiya as the name but he never acknowledged it the moment he hated the redhead for being the reason for his mother’s death. 

Masato slowly pulled a chair before sitting in front of Tokiya.

“Hey, easy, easy,” he hesitantly rubbed Tokiya’s shoulder and when the blue head did not refuse the touch, he continued, “I bet Otoya doesn’t like to see you crying like this. He said to me that he wanted to see you smile every day, Tokiya.”

Tokiya just shook his head in despair as another set of tears dropped into his laps.

“Are you still scared? I mean… Of everyone including me?” Masato asked carefully. He did not expect a verbal reply because the way Tokiya shuddered was enough for him.

“Don’t worry, Tokiya. I never thought for one second that you are a murderer,” he held the crazily trembling arm firmly. “Please... If you have more things to say, just whine to me like you always do. You don’t need to endure everything by yourself, Tokiya. That’s not only painful to you but to your father, your friends.”

“Please…”

“Hm?” Masato’s eyes brightened up before another set of words hit him hard.

“Please leave me alone.”

“What?”

Tokiya slowly looked into his eyes before removing Masato’s hand from his arm. “I think… This is more than enough, Masato. You are supposed to practice for your debut. What are you doing here every day, coaxing me to eat and what not?”

“It’s because you are not there. How am I supposed to practice when we promised that we will debut together?”

“A promise can be broke for your own sake, Masato. It’s not like… We have a written agreement or something,” Tokiya forced a chuckle. “At this point, you should think about yourself. Being an idol is your long-time dream, right? You can do it by yourself if you try harder.”

“But, Tokiya…”

“I know. It’ll be tough at first. I know that feeling when you steered clear of me like Otoya required. It felt weird to not have you around but somehow I could cope with it. I am sure you can do it too, Masato. You just need the willpower to do that. You should have a brighter life with nicer friends. Someone troublesome like me doesn’t even deserve to be your friend.”

“No, you are not, Tokiya…”

“I am sorry for causing so much trouble to you, Masato. I ignored your advice and I was mad at you for making Otoya be close to me again. In the end, because of my immaturity, I ended up killing him.”

“No, Tokiya. You didn’t kill him. It was Shibuya who killed him. Don’t take the blame by yourself. Otoya doesn’t want this.”

“I was mad at myself for the whole time. If I didn’t hate Otoya from the start, he would not go through all the trouble to the point of being the matchmaker of Shibuya-san and me. If those things at that night didn’t happen, he would still be alive but… Because of me,” the voice that was used to be so sweet ended up cracking a lot. “He lost his life. He couldn’t even achieve his dream. He came back as a ghost just because he did not want me to blame myself. Aijima-san tried his best to protect me from Shibuya-san but me… I was being stupid the whole time without having the slightest idea about what they had gone through. To be honest, I am so done to be treated like some damsel in distress. I don’t deserve to live a good life after what happened but at least, now I feel what Otoya felt all this time. When people blamed you for someone’s death, it’s never easy to bear… All Otoya felt was a pain and that was because of me.”

“But I believe Otoya never blamed you for that.”

“Why? Why didn’t he? Why was that boy so nice when I was the one who cursed him!?” Tokiya shouted furiously. He was sick of everyone who tried so hard to console him. “And you, Masato… What are you doing here!? Don’t you hate me because after what had happened, he ended up dying because of me? He died because of my stubbornness for crying out loud!”

“No, I don’t. I don’t hate you,” ostensibly, Masato looked intimidated to see Tokiya went berserk but words could not describe how happy he was. It sounded weird but for him, it was much easier to fix his best friend’s head when he was expressive.

“If that’s the case, you should.”

“What?”

“Please go away. I mean… How come you are so persistent!? Just go and debut for yourself. You still have Syo, Ren, and Shinomiya-san with you. It should be fine.”

Yet, Tokiya’s seriousness caused Masato to laugh. The level of sarcasm was the same when he told Masato that the pianist was being ridiculous for ending their friendship just because of the weird rumor about them.

“Is that funny?” Tokiya asked, slowly but Masato knew how livid his best friend was.

“Hell, yeah. Don’t you think this is funny?” The way Masato smirked instantly rang a bell for Tokiya which angered him even more.

Is this guy mocking me right now?

“No, not at all and I am not in the mood if you come here to pick a fight. I am _really_ not in a good mood,” the way Tokiya looked daggers at him amused Masato more. “And stop smirking like that. It’s annoying.”

“I know. That’s why I am doing it,” Masato replied casually and when he saw that it took all for Tokiya to suppress his fury, his face expression softened. “That brought you to the usual you. I am sorry for making you offended but…” His hand grabbed Tokiya’s arm, much to other’s puzzlement.    

“Listen here, Tokiya. You never realize how much do you mean to me and Otoya, right? You don’t have to feel bad about Otoya because no matter how mean you were with him, it did not change the fact that you are the first person who treated him like a family after he lost his parents. You were the first person who stood up for him when he was bullied back then. Do you forget about that already? Otoya told me that the moment he knew you, he prayed that someday, he would be close to you. Just so you know, all this time Otoya and I wanted only the best thing happened to you because you always did the same to us.”

Something cheesy but sincere like this… Masato needed it to make Tokiya forgiving himself and he knew it worked when Tokiya avoided his eyes. Most probably, he thought that it was so cheesy but he could not help but feel moved with Masato’s sincerity.

“Just remember, Tokiya… No matter if the whole world goes against you, Otoya and I will always by your side. Maybe Otoya is no longer here but I know… He’s watching somewhere, praying for your happiness. I bet he told you that you are the reason for him to keep alive, right? So all you have to do is doing what he wishes.”

Tokiya sighed in dissatisfaction. To be honest, there was something that he still did not understand about these two annoying ‘kids’.

“Seriously… Why did you guys always remind me of those so-called good deeds that I have made when we were still small before? That’s a long time ago,” Tokiya asked, innocently.

“Because first, the fact that you changed something dreadful in our life since a long time ago just made us happier in future and second, we are not the type of people who forget somebody’s compassion just because he is a human being who can make mistake. Otoya and I are a pair of grateful brothers, you see,” Masato’s thick-skinned reply earned him rolling eyes from Tokiya.

“Cheesy and narcissistic as hell,” Tokiya sniggered. He snuffled in annoyance, realizing that how much he tortured his nose for making it stuffy.

“Wow, I guess my counseling service worked, huh? You even started to be foul-mouthed again,” Masato crossed his arms, adding in the sarcasm to show that he was so relieved of the situation. 

“Don’t worry. I promise I won’t swear after this,” Tokiya said. “But what’s with the counseling service crap? Do I have to pay you now? Since when do you become stingy with me, Masa?”

“Of course you have to pay, you idiot! You wasted my time, energy, and my money for the taxi. You even took away my motivation for the debut practice. Now, the payment is you have to take a shower since… Dude, you are stinking. You also have to eat.”

“Tsk! All I have to do is eating? What kind of payment is that? Does that make you full?” Tokiya smiled, indirectly saying how grateful he was to have a friend like Masato.

“If you want a cheesy answer, yeah, it makes me full. Now, cut the crap and I will cook something for you. Just tell me what you want and I will make it fast,” now Masato’s voice resembled a typical ramen restaurant owner.

“Don’t want.”

“Eh? Why?”

“Because Otoya didn’t eat anything when he disappeared before. He looked skinny…”

“So, you want to be like him too? I bet if Otoya knows you don’t eat at all, it will make him sadder.”

“You deliberately ‘bribed’ me with all those nostalgias for Otoya, right?”

“Because I know in this situation, you will do anything for him.”

“Of course…” His dull eyes stared at the floor but his head was full with his late brother. “I will do whatever it takes if it means I can get him back. I really wish I can see him again.”

Ah, is he going to cry, okay? Masato anxiously thought.

“Okay, enough being melodramatic. Now, what do you want me to cook?” Masato deliberately hit Tokiya’s back so that Tokiya would stop blaming himself.

“Something simple?” Tokiya said, noticing how Masato would never shut up unless he ate just anything.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay, I will cook for you. You go and take a shower, okay?”

“Alright. You are not my mother, you know? Stop nagging.”

“And you are not my son so stop whining and eat properly.”

“Ahhh, I DON’T CARE!” They were suddenly distracted by Syo’s deafening voice, followed by a punch on the door, caused both blue heads jumped from their seats.

“Syo-chan, calm down!” As soon as the door was forced open, it showed Natsuki who desperately tried to hold Syo back, the calm Ren, and the speechless Kazuki.

“I was so mad! I want to comfort him too!” Syo yelled while struggling to escape from Natsuki’s strong hug.

“Even so, did you really need to punch the door?” Ren sighed while looking apologetically at Kazuki for his friend’s discourtesy.

“Ah, Tokiya-kun!” Natsuki mindlessly dropped his roommate down before asphyxiating Tokiya with his notorious hug.

“Shi…No…Mi…” Tokiya muffled against the wide chest, struggling to inhale oxygen.

“Oi, don’t kill my son!” Kazuki screamed in horror. There was no way he could let his only son and family got killed by a hug from his friend. His one and only experience was enough for him to tell that Natsuki’s hug was life-threatening since it blocked your oxygen absorption.

“Shinomiya-san, are you… Crying?” Tokiya titled his head as he could hear the big boy started to sob out nowhere.

“Of course! I miss you so much, Tokiya-kun! We lost Otoya-kun and we couldn’t make Cecil-kun and Haru-chan to get over with their grief so if you don’t debut with us, it will be lonely!” Natsuki’s sincere confession stabbed Tokiya straight to his heart. He glanced at others who nodded, agreeing with Natsuki except Syo who was…

“Don’t cry, you idiot!”

The next thing they realized was Syo already switched on his drama mode, weeping beside his roommate.

“Oi, you guys…” Tokiya did not know where should he start. He lifted his hands awkwardly before stroking their hair, attempting to calm them down. “You guys don’t have to cry like this, you know…”

“An idiot like you shouldn’t talk much!” Syo screamed while wiping his tears. “You don’t know how lonely the practice room looked right now. It never looked the same if one of us missing, you blockhead!”

“…”

“Say something, you idiot!”

“But just now you asked me to not talk!”

After that, Tokiya spent at least half an hour to console them and apologizing to everyone for making them worried before taking a shower and eating Masato’s cooking.

It was nice to know that in spite of the odium from other students, his friends were the one who stuck by him till the end.    

* * *

 

**Tokiya** sighed for the nth time as he was on the way back to his house. As requested by his friends, Tokiya went to visit Cecil at the house of his adopted family which was conveniently in Japan. During their meeting, it did not take him long enough to find that Aijima Cecil was still sad with what happened to Otoya to the point of his debut would be meaningless without the boy.

His friends were right. He should be the one who understood Cecil’s circumstance the most.

But, he never thought that Cecil would reveal something that made him understood the prince even more than he did.  

It was all started when Cecil told him about his half-brother. Back then, Cecil told them that the reason why he enrolled in Saotome Academy because he wanted to find his long-lost half-brother. His mother, Aijima Kotomi regained her memory after being the victim of plane crash from 15 years ago, stated that she had a child in Japan. Based on all those pieces of memories, Cecil was convinced that his half-brother would enroll in the academy as well.

The only thing that he never told everyone was the father of his half-brother was their principal, Shining Saotome. 

_“Do you remember when I told you about my half-brother, Tokiya?”_

_“Yes. What about it?”_

_“And you know that Otoya was the first one who greeted me when I came here, right?”_

_“Yeah, he kept telling everyone to be nice to you.”_

_“To be honest, he reminded me so much of the brother that my mother said to me. Red hair, the clear resemblance between these two… I was positive that he was the person that I looked for but when I asked him about his past, he said that his parents died because of an accident. I felt frustrated because I could feel the strong connection with him. If only I brought him to my mother sooner…”_

At that time, Tokiya failed to come up with suitable words to comfort Cecil. All he knew about Otoya’s past was his parents died because of a car accident and his relatives put the blame on him. Nobody wanted to have the custody of Otoya which led him to stay in the orphanage for a few years before Ichinose family adopted him.

That was all. 

_“It’s the same like what Otoya told me.”_

_“What?”_

_“When he met you, Aijima-san, it felt like he just got himself a new brother. It’s maybe because you got close to him faster than anyone else.”_

_“Wow! That was nice to hear even he’s not the brother that I looked for.”_

Tokiya could swear that was the brightest expression that he ever saw from the prince. Cecil was always bubbly and childish but something told the blue head that he looked the happiest when he talked about Otoya.  

_“Remember, Tokiya. It’s not you. That bitch is the one who killed your brother.”_

Tokiya could never forget how Cecil’s expression darkened as soon as he mentioned Tomochika.

In the end, he left the prince to reconsider his decision to not debut. There was no way he could force Cecil but at least, he already tried his best.

_Otoya…_

_I don’t know how all of these going to happen but please pray for us. I really wish Aijima-san will change his mind and…_

_I never thought that he was sad that much because he didn’t only see you as his friend._

* * *

 

**On** the next day, Saotome Academy was surprised with Tokiya’s presence. Much to the blue head’s confusion, no one even dared to glare or bully him like before. They got obviously intimidated especially when other STARISH members were around him.

He never knew that behind his back, his friends would scare them off by glaring or giving any kind of daunting gestures. It was even confusing for the blue head when on the same day, the teachers organized a special talk for all students about being nice to a public figure and how to act civilized when rumors circulated around them.  

“Why? As a future idol, do you prefer to get thrown with trash and get your laptop destroyed again?” Masato remarked when he asked what was the motive for this sudden talk. It was the same answer that he got when he questioned how well-behaved those students were.

Tokiya never knew that after the talk, Masato thanked the teachers for making his suggestion from the last time came true.

“It’s nothing, Mr. Hijirikawa. We should be the one who says thanks to you. It was a brilliant idea indeed,” was what Shining Saotome said.

Meanwhile, at the dorm, Tokiya was impressed with how clean his room was in spite of not staying there for a while.

“Hijirikawa cleaned it almost every day so that you don’t have to clean it when you come back,” Ren ignored Masato’s death glare.

“As expected from my brother,” Tokiya stroked Masato’s head and much to other’s shock, Masato did not whine afterward.

“Hijirikawa, are you blushing? What’s wrong with you, being nice-tempered and what not?”

“Shut up, Jinguuji.”

Masato was too happy to be nit-picking like always.

_Otoya, things started to go better. Please anticipate our debut. We promise we will do the best for you._

* * *

 

**A** few days passed with the practice room was crowded with noises from the remained STARISH members again. This time, at least they could convince Haruka to join them.  

Just like their normal day, a dispute would pop out fast when Ren was back to his normal self which included his flirting activity when Haruka was around.

“Em, _ano_ …” The composer hesitantly accepted her 1000th rose from Ren. She really wanted to say that he did not need to give it to her again but luckily, Masato saved her this time.

“Can you stop flirting with Nanami? Can’t you see that she’s not comfortable with what you are doing!?” Masato snatched the pitiful rose from Ren before scrunching and threw it into a trash can. “Just how many of them do you have!?”

Then, as typical as they got but turned out to be something that they would want to bring up after being lost in despair, Masato and Ren would argue noisily which became the duty for the rest of them to calm them down.

The door was suddenly open, showing somebody that they missed so much.

“Cecil?” Syo was the first one who generated tears. The others just had the shock written over his face.  

“Cecil-san?” Haruka moved away from the piano, headed for her friend.

“Hello, guys,” the said boy scratched the back of his neck, smiling in a silly way. He was wearing his usual practice attire which consisted of a pair of white jogging suit and a green tee shirt. “I am back.”

“Took you long enough to come back, huh?” Tokiya smiled in relief. He could imagine Otoya’s smiling face in his mind.

“This piece of…” The next thing that they realized was Syo already locked Cecil’s head in his small and short arms, totally pissed off. “Another disgusting drama from you and I will…”

“Syo, my… My neck…” Cecil patted Syo’s surprisingly strong arm, physically begged his friend to cut him some slack.

“Don’t you want to say sorry!?”

“I am sorry! I am sorry!”

“You deserved that, Aijima,” Masato smirked and Cecil swore that was the evilest expression that he ever saw from the pianist.

“Cecil-san, I thought that you never came back. I miss you so much,” Haruka stated, almost bursting into tears before getting startled with Cecil’s hand, touched her cheek.

“I am back, my princess.”

“Don’t flirt with her, you idiot!” Masato and Syo yelled out of jealousy before hitting his head in chorus.

“Auchhh!”

When they were busy welcoming Cecil in their own way, Tokiya caught a glimpse of a redhead, standing just behind the piano. It managed to divert him to step out of the commotion to approach the figure.

Slowly and in a sudden way, he saw the person that he really wanted to see again.

“O…Otoya?” He asked. He titled his head when the said guy who he did not know was real or vice versa, curving in the brightest smile that he missed the most. “Is that really you?”

Masato, who was the first one who noticed him acting strange, quickly approached him, followed by the others.

“Tokiya, what’s wrong?” Cecil and Masato asked, almost in unison.

“It can’t be…  Am I going crazy now?” He hit his head while his blue eyes still stared at the thin and tall figure.

“Tokiya…” It got more depressing when the figure that he believed was Otoya called out his name. The voice was so soft and warm.  

“Did you come back again? If you want to say sorry, I don't want to hear that.”

“Tokiya, who are you talking to?” Masato was confused as he could not see anyone.  

“Masa, Otoya is…” His finger pointed at the empty space right in front of him, much to other’s confusion.

“Oi, just knock it off already. This is not funny, Tokiya,” Syo said, worrying over Tokiya’s mental health. Not to mention this kind of situation was creepy for a fraidy cat like him.

“No, I am not joking, Syo. He’s here. He’s smiling at all of us,” Tokiya hit Syo’s shoulder impatiently while desperately pointed at his front side.

“But, Tokiya-kun… We cannot see…” Natsuki gasped, followed by his friends when all of them could clearly catch the sight of…

A thin figure with a dark blue sweater and grey pants. His red hair matched the color of his eyes. Yet, no parts of him could match his smile. The smile which could cure the pain in their hearts after missing his presence like crazy.

“Ikki,” Ren muttered, could not believe what his eyes most probably wanted to deceive him.

“Waaaa, everyone is here! Even Nanami and Cecil!” They got tensed up as the redhead acted like the typical him, beaming from ear to ear. His eyes wandered around the room, obviously looked thrilled. "I miss you guys soooo much! I always come here since the debut is just around the corner but you guys didn't practice a lot. I was sad," he pouted.  

"Otoya, you..." Masato was too shocked to talk. 

“But now, things are going back to normal, right? I don't have to worry anymore! I wish you guys all the best for your debut! I will be watching. And you, Tokiya…” The blue eyes glistened with tears again as soon as Otoya looked at him. “I am so happy to see you here. Take care.”

That was all they managed to hear because the figure slowly faded away, without giving them the chance to express just how much they missed him.    

Everyone just froze on their spot. Some of them smiled bitterly. Yes, it was still painful to learn that Otoya was no longer with them but at least, they knew that they managed to make him happy.

Thank you, Otoya. Thank you so much, Masato mentally said as he could see that despite the drop of tears streamed down his face, he knew Tokiya finally could forgive himself.

* * *

 

**Tokiya** looked around as he could hear some sobs from the audience. Most of them looked dumbfounded to hear the true story.

“So, that’s what happened to my brother, Ichinose Otoya. He was killed. Maybe physically by another person but I believe the root of his death was me. I was the one who cursed him on that night so I should bear the responsibility for that,” Tokiya held the microphone stand as he tried to muster up his courage before he could finish his speech. “I assumed that he came back for a while as a ghost because whoever made it happened wanted me to know how my stupidity cost my brother’s life. I should be ashamed of how I treated him all this time. No matter how many times I apologized to him when I visited his grave, no matter how many times other people said to me that Otoya never blamed me, it did not change the fact that I was the one who killed him and I am so rueful of that. I miss him so much.”

Tokiya did not realize that instead of crying or putting on a sad face, the audience started to whisper to each other, wondering if he was in his right mind. Some of them put on a ‘what the heck’ face.   

“And that’s why… To answer the question, the only thing that I wish if I have one chance in my life is I want Ichinose Otoya to come back to our family. I really want to see him now…”

“What the heck are you talking about, Tokiya!? I am not dead yet! Stop with the cheesy drama, won’t you!?”

“Eh?”

Tokiya did not know what he should be surprised at first. The fact that somebody randomly and rudely interrupted him in the middle of the speech or…

The fact that somebody had the ‘oh-so-familiar’ voice…

The voice…

The infamous and childish tone…

Tokiya turned to see the source of the voice before he could feel that his body was shaking out of both horror and contentment.

In the midst of the audience, his eyes caught the sight of a pair of red eyes, looking daggers at him. The boy who interrupted his speech was biting his lips instead of smiling while his hands held his waist.

“O…Otoya?”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okkayyyy, another tough but completed chapter. I got feedback from my friend and sister that they were puzzled by the last scene. No worries. I’ll try my best to explain in the next a.k.a the last chapter. And speaking about Cecil and Otoya, I really wanted them to know that they have the same mother T_T That’s why I decided to include the scene of Aijima Kotomi finally regained her memory about her first son because that’s what I hoped to see in anime. Nevertheless, feel free to tell me what do you think about this chapter, okay? :D


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This last chapter is dedicated to Naniwise. Thank you for being constantly supportive ^^
> 
> Thank you for the kudos, by the way, guys! Please enjoy the last chapter of ‘You Should Die Instead’ ^^

 

**Disclaimer: I don’t own Uta no Prince Sama. I just own the plot.**

**For** the first time in his life, he could and did not believe his eyes.

No, Tokiya thought. The audiences were also in the same boat with his eyes. It looked like they decided to deceive him by staring at him like a strange person who needed his mental condition checked.

‘What the heck? Otoya’s still alive, you fool!’ was what they wanted to scream so bad on his face if only the ceremony was a casual party with no VIPs.

Yet, in fact, they did not have any idea how much Tokiya wanted to yell ‘no, he’s dead! You guys are the fools one!’ back to them.   

But, still… Considering the current situation whereby the person that had been the subject of his speech and was here and looked oh-so-healthy, it was bound for Tokiya to be the crazy man here.

The first son of Ichinose family looked at Masato before using the telepathy which he always did with his best friend.

‘Is that really Otoya?’Tokiya mentally asked while glancing at his brother who was still gazing at him. It looked like the redhead wanted to butcher him alive which scared him even more.

“Huh? Are you crazy or blind? Of course, he is Otoya!’

Tokiya recoiled as he could feel that Masato was shrieking in his ears, enough from seeing how sharp the scion glowered at him. He had no idea how absurd he looked like as he flinched when he had nobody around him.

The way he looked at Otoya back with the same level of surprise just irked the said boy even more.

“Seriously, what are you so surprised at? Are you trying to make a joke?” Otoya scoffed before averting his attention towards the still confused audiences. “Ladies and gentlemen, I genuinely apologize for my brother’s lame joke. Maybe he was keen to participate in variety shows so he just wanted to test the waters. I am so sorry for the shaggy-dog story, though.”

Otoya ended up saving the day by making the audiences settled down and at least, laughed at Tokiya’s strange melodrama.

Apart from the fact that they were still in the middle of a formal ceremony, the reason why Tokiya did not explode to Otoya like usual was that he was gobsmacked.

Just what happened to his head?

Just what happened to Otoya exactly?  

* * *

 

**“What** the heck are you doing, Ichinose!? Do you want to act that much to the point of you _acted_ so dramatic like that!? Are you freaking out of your mind!?” The way Tokiya got scolded by Hyuga, his ex-homeroom teacher made him seemed blameworthy for committing a vandalism. Meanwhile, standing next to the buff teacher was Ringo, A class teacher who only shook his head out of incredulity.

Hyuga definitely was the most irritated today because all the teachers, VIP and Shining Saotome (of course!) literally shot a death laser at him, mentally admonished him for not preparing Tokiya well enough for the ceremony speech.

“I am sorry,” Tokiya said, softly. His head locked down to the floor, pretended to be mortified even his head was still puzzled by the miracle that took place just now.

Otoya… He is still alive…

“What’s the matter, Tokiya-chan? Are you not feeling well?” Ringo who was much calmer (most probably from the fact that he was not the one who shouldered the utter embarrassment like Hyuga) asked since Tokiya’s face looked pallid.

“Eh? I… I am okay, _sensei_.”

“Then, why do you…”

The next babble of voices from Ringo and Hyuga was no longer being the center of Tokiya’s interest as soon as he caught the sight of a certain redhead, talking loudly with Syo and Natsuki.

Not long after that, he spotted Masato who was strolling alongside Haruka. He totally could read the atmosphere, given how blushed the scion looked but he could not care less about the ‘romance-to-be’ vibes between the two classmates. As rude as the usual him, he did not waste any second to drag Masato to the small corner of the hall.

“Oi, Ichinose! I am not done with you! Come here, you twerp!” He paid no heed to Hyuga’s desperate and fuming cry. Instead, he sped up, practically crashed whoever that he could crash.  

“What the heck, Tokiya!? I was talking to Nanami!” Masato yelled, struggling to pull away from Tokiya’s deadly grip but to no avail.

Tokiya released Masato from his grasp only when they were too far and hidden from other people. The vocalist looked around nervously, making sure that not even a single soul could hear their conversation. He was about to bombard Masato with a long series of questions when he could feel a hand pushed his head out of the blue.

“What the heck was that!?” Tokiya looked at Masato, as incredulous as how the scion glared at him. 

“That’s my line, you fool! What the heck is wrong with you!? You acted like some sick weirdo when you were supposed to give a prestigious speech and now, you dragged me all the way here just when I was about to confess to Nanami! Why did you do this to me, you fool!? Why!?” Masato looked resolute to impair Tokiya’s eardrums as he shouted as raucous as possible, sending his friend to flinch.

“So loud,” Tokiya muttered, covering his innocent ears.

“Whose fault is that, you fool!?”

“Okay, I am sorry! Jeez, you are so… Okay, okay! Just stop shouting, won’t you!?” Tokiya lifted his palm up to Masato’s red face, deciding to capitulate for the sake of his eardrums. How was he supposed to be a great musician if he could not hear after this?  

“So, what do you want?” Masato asked with his arms crossed over his broad chest. Even he sounded so calm, the way he put his beefy arms was enough to warn Tokiya that he would not hesitate to show off his judo skill in case the blue head still showed any sign of absurdity and insanity.    

“That… That redhead… Who’s he?” Tokiya asked, putting on a panicky face.

Again, the ridiculous-looking face… I should be with Nanami now or else, somebody will die today, Masato thought, suppressing himself from punching his own best friend.

“Huh?”

“I mean…The one who interrupted me while I delivered a speech just now,” Tokiya described.  

“Oh… That guy…” Masato’s expression darkened. His blue eyes stared at the floor, looking all shocked. “I actually wonder about that too, you know? How can he possibly be here? Wasn’t he supposed to die?”

Tokiya’s eyes brightened up. As expected from Masato who was always…

“Like hell, I will say that. I just copied and pasted your dramatic speech just now,” Masato’s sardonic and annoyed expression went back to their place. This time, he looked like he would gobble Tokiya like a titan from certain anime. “Being thrown to the ground after rejecting Shibuya, one-week disappearance… What are you? A scriptwriter now?”

“I swear he was dead!” Tokiya persevered and this time he did not recoil like a wuss even when Masato got his fist ready.

“Don’t make me laugh, Ichinose Tokiya! If you are going to be insane because of the pressure of being an idol, you should be from the start! Why now!? When your dream is achieved and you already have a lot of offers for movies.”

“But… But…”

“But what?” To see that Tokiya looked so confused, Masato decided to calm down and gave his friend a chance to explain himself.          

“What really happened exactly?”

Noticing that this conversation would not go anywhere unless he answered Tokiya, Masato tried his best to explain everything while resisting his punch from spontaneously throwing itself at Tokiya whenever the guy showed his stupidly confused face.

From Masato’s narrative, Tokiya found something different.

The curse never happened. He never cursed Otoya to die.

Otoya had never been the matchmaker of Tomochika and him.

Otoya never disappeared for a week.

Otoya never acted weird nor asked Masato to stay away from him.

And the most important thing was… Tomochika never killed Otoya. Instead, she was expelled from school because she ordered the C Class trio to attack and confine him in the derelict class.

That was the only truth and not out of his ‘delusion’. The fact that Tomochika perceived him and Haruka as the threats was correct.

“So, have you gotten your memory back now?” Masato said, eyeing the possibility for Tokiya to regain his sanity.       

“Masato,” Tokiya responded. The scion could spot the sign of absurd fortitude, emitted from his friend’s eyes. 

“What?”

“To be honest, there are so many things that I don’t understand. Maybe I lost my memory or something so can you, by all means, clout me so that I can make sense what exactly happened to Otoya? You know judo so if you want, you can throw me down as well.”

This guy, Masato froze on his spot. He could feel that his brain was haltingly processing Tokiya’s words, given how ludicrous it sounded in his ears.

Can somebody help me hark back to why I was befriended by _this_ guy?

“…”

“Please, Masato,” it became more annoying when Tokiya switched on his dramatic mode, grabbing his arm forcefully.

“You are not my friend anymore. Bye.”

“Masato, please!” When Tokiya reached his shoulder, that was when Masato snapped like a barbaric monster.

“Just cut it out already! Why the hell should I hit you all of sudden!? You are not making any sense!”

“That’s why I want you to clobber me. I want to make one!”

“What!?”  

“Pleasseeeee, Masato! I need you to hit me now. You are strong so your hit should give sufficient impact,” Tokiya patted his head with Masato’s hand so that it could encourage his friend to bash him to the fullest.

“People might misunderstand if they see this…” Masato responded, slowly. He was that tired to put up with Tokiya’s rubbish.

“Then, do it before anyone sees this. Pleaseeee….”

“You are crazy, Ichinose Tokiya,” Masato raised his thick palm, summoned the courage to bash Tokiya. As much as his temper was tested so many times by the guy, he never thought for one second that he would clobber him.

“Don’t make that face!” Masato yelled as he could see that Tokiya already grimaced.

“I am sorry but your hand is so big, Masato. It’s scary.”

“Then, is it my hand’s fault for being so big!?”

“No, not at all! In fact, it comes in handy for a situation like this.”

“…”

As Tokiya expected that his face was going to meet its pathetic and absurd destiny with Masato’s slap, someone interrupted out of nowhere and hugged him tightly.

“Eh?” The best friends exclaimed as soon as they saw Otoya, glared childishly at Masato.

“Masa, what are you doing? Why are you trying to hit my brother?” Otoya pulled Tokiya closer to him as he said ‘my brother’.

“Eh? That’s… That’s because this idiot forced me to do so!” Masato pointed his accusing finger at the blank Tokiya.  

“Ehhhh? Why, though? You are weird, Tokiya!”

I am weird because you are being _weird_ , Otoya.

“And what are YOU doing here?” Masato asked the cheerful redhead.

“Oh, I am here because my brother has a lotttt of things to explain now,” Otoya said as dissatisfaction written over his face.

“I know right,” Masato remarked as he understood the guitarist right away. 

“Eh? What are you guys talking about?” Tokiya stupidly asked.

Otoya crossed his arms while looking daggers at Tokiya. His cheeky and bubbly expression was no longer there, much to Tokiya’s panic.

“You are so unbelievable, Tokiya. You said you hated me and then when I tried so hard to save you from Tomochika, you became nice to me. I thought we finally got along but now, BAM! You suddenly faked my death in front of those VIPs, those teachers… Just what the heck is wrong with you, big bro? Are you insane?”

“I think so. He needs to examine his mental condition,” Masato acknowledged, ignoring Tokiya’s dissatisfied look.

“You said that I died because I tried to save Nanami from… Who? Tomochika? Yeah, it’s true that she paid for the consequence but it’s not because she kidnapped Nanami. She ordered her minions to assault you and that’s why she was expelled from this school. And then, there is this story about my disappearance like whatttt? You are my roommate, Tokiya! How come you cannot notice that I am around? And after that, you said I already died but came back again as a ghost and then I left everyone again. Just so you know, logically, nobody in this world could live more than once. Because of your absurd script, everybody got dubious about me. They think that I am a ghost! That’s the saltiest claim that I have ever faced in my life! You are responsible for this, Ichinose Tokiya!”

“Yes, yes, you. You are responsible for this, Ichinose Tokiya,” Masato nodded, silently enjoyed himself to see somebody knock some sense into Tokiya’s head.  

“I am sorry,” Tokiya muttered in defeat.   

“Thank God,” Masato scoffed.

“By the way, you guys! Just now, Cecil introduced me to his mother. She resembles me and when I took a closer look, she reminded me of my mother,” Otoya remarked. “Kotomi-san is positive that I am her son but I said that’s impossible. Like… How could I possibly have two biological mothers, right?”

“Yeah, you are right,” Masato agreed.

Oh, my… Aijima-san really brought his mother here, Tokiya was quickly worried in case Aijima family wanted to take Otoya away from him.   

What should I do??

* * *

 

**This** can’t happen, Tokiya thought as he slowly stepped downstairs. Much to his shock, Cecil and his mother, Kotomi came to their house, talking about Otoya.

“What the hell are they saying? Why are they coming here? Do they really want to take Otoya away?” He mumbled to himself when their conversation sounded faint in his ears.

“Who wants to take me away?”

“Waahh!”

“Shhh!” Otoya, the reason for Tokiya’s surprise covered his brother’s mouth in panic. Meanwhile, the three heads in the living room turned to their direction in utter shock, did not expect a human could produce such a deafening sound. 

“Er… Hehe. Well, that’s Tokiya, my first son. You know him, right, Cecil? He always shouted randomly because he loves to practice his singing. Maybe he wanted to try more genres,” Kazuki remarked awkwardly before looking daggers at his sons, sending Otoya to mumble ‘sorry’ while pointing at Tokiya.

“You’re so loud, Tokiya,” Otoya whispered after those three people continued their conversation.

“It’s your fault. Why did you come here?”

“It’s because when I came from the kitchen, you looked like a robber who wanted to rob his own house,” Otoya justified, flatly.  

“Em… Well, I want to know what they are talking about,” Tokiya went red out of discomfiture.

“Oh, I see. Actually, they want to know more about my past. That’s why they come to see daddy,” Otoya answered, calmly.

“What!? For what?” In contrast, Tokiya looked more horrified.

“Because Kotomi-san is still positive that I am her son so she wanted to find out the truth, I think?”

What’s the deal with the woman? Can’t you see that Otoya belongs here and he’s not your son? Tokiya mentally complained.

“Then, are you going to leave me?”

“Huh?”

“If she’s really your mother, are you going to leave me? We’ll never meet each other again. You’ll be brought far away from here…”

“You make it sounded like they are trying to kidnap me, Tokiya,” Otoya put on a blank face which suggested disbelief. “Plus, like I told you, it’s impossible. My mother passed away from a car crash. There is no way I can have two biological mothers, right?”

“Yeah…” Tokiya replied, weakly.

He did not need more family drama about a long-lost son. He just wanted Otoya to stay here, as the part of Ichinose family.       

* * *

 

**“Hey,** what the hell are you doing over there?” He was startled by a high-pitched voice from the ground.     

“Otoya…”  

He climbed the tree house because he wanted to clear his mind from thinking about Otoya but as usual, it became the redhead’s hobby to invade his privacy.

“I believe you are supposed to read a book in your room instead of climbing a tree, right?”

“I feel bored. This place is much cozier,” Tokiya answered flatly.

“Well, you got a point there,” Otoya climbed up the tree, taking a seat beside his brother. “But… Daddy said to me that this area is quite haunted, especially at night like now. Last two weeks, our neighbor just bumped into a messy-haired ghost.”

That sentence sounded familiar but where did I hear it? No, the whole conversation itself… It’s like a déjà vu, Tokiya pondered.

Ah, that one! The first day after Otoya was discharged from the hospital. We talked about ghosts, right?

As soon as they met eyes, Tokiya could swear that he saw something in the red eyes.

It was like Otoya tried to say something like ‘does it sound familiar’ but later, Tokiya was convinced that it was only his imagination since when he took a closer look, there was nothing wrong with Otoya’s eyes nor his facial expression.

Maybe… It’s just my imagination.

“It has a pair of red eyes, sharp teeth… The face itself… It looked like it’s just been scratched and stabbed…” While Otoya was trying his best to scare his brother with his cheeky face, Tokiya was resisting himself from showing how a chill flew in his veins.

It was slow but intimidating. It made his heart beat so fast when he noticed that Otoya was literally copying his sentence before and threw it back to him.

This kid… Is he trying to make fun of me instead?

At this moment, Tokiya was not only convinced that all of those disturbing things that happened to him and Otoya were not his mere imagination but…

He was also positive that he was not the only one who knew and experienced them.

Otoya was with him. Otoya knew everything.

“Why do you look so scared, Tokiya?” It was calm and out of worry but Tokiya felt something was terrifying there. “Are you, by chance… Are you starting to feel afraid of ghosts? That can’t be… I said those things because I know you are not scared of them!” Otoya exclaimed dramatically.  

“No, I am scared because you don’t feel scared at all. What’s gotten into you?” Tokiya pointed out, mentally asking Otoya to confess whatever sick jokes he tried to pull on. “Normally, you were scared of the ghosts the most.”  

“Ehh? What do you mean by ‘what’s gotten into me?’ People can change and so can I. Plus, the ghosts here are not that scary. Maybe they just love this place. They won’t disturb us if we don’t pick a fight with them.”  

“And how do you know that? How can you be sure? Have you ever met them before?” Tokiya asked, slightly impatient.

He was hoping to see some nervous reaction from his brother but Otoya was way too calm and…

Tokiya did not like that.

“Well, daddy told me that and I believe in him. Moreover, come to think of it, we shouldn’t be so afraid of ghosts when they were used to be humans like us, right? And one more thing, they don’t even have a body, a medium that will make it possible for them to touch us, let alone to harm us.”

“But ghosts can be sly or tricky, sometimes,” Tokiya said. “They come back for a reason. First, maybe they miss someone. Second, maybe they want to ruin someone’s life or take revenge.”

“That actually sounds scary,” Otoya chuckled awkwardly as his hands rubbed each other, emitting some coldness from his body.

“Really? I don’t mind, though,” Tokiya stated. “If they want to take revenge, go ahead. I am ready to face the consequence.”

Otoya turned to see Tokiya, looked all gloomy.

“There is no such thing as that,” Otoya said with a smile.  

“Really? But after what happened during the ceremony, I started to believe that such thing can happen.”

“Instead of taking revenge, I bet they will like you more since you are not afraid of ghosts. They won’t harm you.”

“I don’t expect them to like or forgive me easily but at least, if they want to take revenge or something, I want them to know that I am ready,” Tokiya stated, softly.  

It was a silence. Tokiya was waiting for the ‘ghost’ to take revenge on him or confess how much ‘he’ hated him but much to his shock…

Otoya hugged him.

“Seriously, are you alright?” Otoya said. His voice thickened with concern.

“Nah, nothing. Maybe I feel so cold. That’s why I kept talking rubbish. You don’t have to feel so uneasy about it,” Tokiya slowly relaxed in the embrace.

“Hell, I won’t,” Otoya suddenly sounded serious. “You acted strangely since the ceremony. Daddy and I were so worried about you. We thought that maybe you just felt stressed out but… The way you acted now… It did not seem like the real you. Our friends also said the same thing.”

“I am sorry. I guess that I had a nightmare about you.”

“About me?” Otoya pulled away, making sure that his eyes met Tokiya’s.

“Yeah. The same nightmare that I said when we were in the ceremony. You died because I cursed you to death and then… You came back. You just wanted to apologize to me and then… You…”

“Tokiya…” Otoya flinched as Tokiya pulled him into his arms. The way his brother sobbed afterward was heart-rending to hear.

“Please don’t leave me, Otoya… Please don’t go to Aijima family if they want to adopt you. I need you here…”

Otoya slowly curved in a grateful smile.   

“Are… Are you not angry at me anymore? Even what I did to mummy?” Otoya asked hesitantly.

“No, I don’t. Not anymore. Why should I feel angry with you, Otoya? You are such a good brother for me. My life won’t be the same without you.”     

A few minutes of sobbing passed with Otoya tried his best to comfort his brother with his hand stroked Tokiya’s back.

“That’s enough, Tokiya. There is no reason for you to cry anymore. You have achieved your dream so it’s the time for you to shine more as an idol and maybe… You can start dating someone…”

“No, I don’t think I am ready to date someone,” Tokiya cut him short. He was done with the matchmaking, dating and what not. He was traumatized.  “What about you? You should do something about Nanami-san.”

Otoya furrowed his eyebrows. “Why should I?”

“Why shouldn’t you?”

“It’s because Nanami is dating Cecil. Maybe she could see how much he loves her and I am happy for both of them. If only Masa is not so bashful, maybe Nanami will consider his feeling, given how nice Masa is with her.”

If only I didn’t drag Masato away from confessing to Nanami, maybe Masato stood a chance. I am sorry, Masato. But, still… You also love her, though. What about you? Tokiya thought, glancing at Otoya’s collected face.

They spent more time talking about their career until something crossed the elder sibling’s mind.  

“Come to think of it, who the heck is the person?”

“Hm?”

“I mean…The one who sent the question about my wish. Just what the motive…”

“It’s me, you silly,” Otoya smirked before flicking Tokiya’s forehead.

“Auch! What!?”

“What do you mean by ‘what’? I thought that you want to say something like you want to act in Hollywood or something. I was hoping to achieve them together but you beat about the bush, talking crap about my tragedy. Do you want me to keep alive that much!? I am, you idiot!”

“Ehhhh?”    

* * *

 

**Otoya’s POV**

_I know Tokiya is still confused but he decided to put it aside and accept the fact that I am still here. Just now, I can see that he looked terrified when I mentioned ghosts. For sure, it’s not because he’s scared of ghosts but it reminded him of something else. I am not sure what it is. I can’t remember it so just like Tokiya, I decided to put it aside and accepted the fact that I already debuted with him and I can attend so many shows with him after this._

_For me, that’s all he needs to know. He doesn’t need to know the rest of it. He suffered more than enough. After this, I just want to see him happy and I don’t want him to ponder all the questions in his head because…_

_Believe it or not, those questions remained mysterious… Even to me._

_The rumor remained mysterious… Even to me._

_Do you still remember the rumor? It said that Saotome Academy can fulfill any kind of wish. I repeat… It’s just a rumor so nobody actually knows the fact. Ren said to me that the academy won’t change the destiny of dead people but again…_

_That was also a rumor. Nobody knew the truth._

_So, until now, I still wonder… Was I dead? Did I come back for a short while as a ghost? Am I… A person now?_

_I could only guess that the answer was ‘yes’ for all of them, thanks to Saotome Academy._

_But for me to be a human again, Tokiya had to suffer from a series of events that I bet would traumatize him for the rest of his life. I really hope he could erase them from his mind and focus on his career. I’ll make sure to keep this as an eternal secret including the fact that…_

_All of those things that happened to me including being cursed, got killed by Tomochika, disappeared for a week were the process for my wish to come true. I wished Tokiya could treat me as his brother but I guess… The academy was too cruel in this one. It wanted to see Tokiya extremely suffered from my death before fulfilling my wish. The fact that Tokiya cried and isolated himself in his room was the proof that he finally treated me like his own brother or to be more exact…_

_My wish was fulfilled only after I died._

_Before I stood a chance to come back alive again, I was always around because I missed Tokiya. I missed everyone. I wish I could say to my brother that he should stop crying because I already forgave him. When everyone in school ill-treated him, I just wanted to go berserk because they have no rights to do so. I felt so upset when he was absent from school and this was when I felt indebted to Masato the most. He was really a good friend to us. Just when I thought of giving up, I came back alive again and I am soooo happy. I guess when Tokiya said countless times to himself that he wanted to see me again, the academy decided to make me alive again while all those tragedies including how I died because of Tomochika would be ‘cancelled’ and forgotten by everyone except Tokiya and me. I think that’s the best conclusion._

_So far, I am sure that I am a human. I really hope that I am not a ghost neither already dead and only exist in everyone’s imagination because… I don’t want to see everyone gets sad again. Enough is enough._

_For now, I want to focus more on my job. We are the idols and that’s all matters to me. Please wish us luck. Bye, bye._

**THE END**

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuhhh, finally! Just finally! T_T I can’t believe it ended. Enough is enough. I no longer have to make Tokiya, Masato, Cecil, and Tomochika suffer from ‘OOCness syndrome’ :D
> 
> Well, before I officially end this story, I would like to say thank you so, so, so much to Naniwise-san. To read your comments in every single chapter is wonderful for me. At least, I know there’s somebody out there who enjoyed this story to the point of she did not hesitate to say what she thought about this story. And also to MaddieE123 and Southern_Lights! Thank you for the comments ><
> 
> And also for the kudos from others! I can’t believe this ridiculous story got 30 kudos! (I am still new as a fanfiction writer so 30 is a lot to me.) Thank you so much! If you want, you can read my other stories like Crystal Time (this was the first fanfiction and I though it’s cringe-making!) and My Little Little Girls (still ongoing). Last but not least, sayonara! Feel free to leave a comment. ^^
> 
>  


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